Small updates.

I was out last night with my sister, brother-in-law, my cousin and her new fiancée. It was an enjoyable night albeit without too much incident and we were out of town, which always makes for a nice change of scenery. I bumped into a guy from work... luckily one of the ones I get along with and not one of those that I am suspicious about. I can't recall offhand if I've explained this all in detail so that may be a tale for another time.

Anyway, the wedding's going to be later this year, so that gives me a stag weekend to look forward to, and with my brother-in-law in tow, it should be a really, really good weekend.

Tonight, I'm meant to be meeting up with G and a couple of other guys for a few drinks and these are usually good fun... a nice mix of banter and serious conversation.

The work thing has taken another dip... once again my boss has ignored something I've said and allocated me a role that I have specifically said I didn't want... this is kind of what kick started all the trouble last year and now, only a few working weeks after we supposedly cleared the air, it all starts again. I really believe that my boss is making this personal.

Oooooooh.

Let it be said that Cobie Smulders from "How I met your Mother" is absolutely lovely.

She's lovely, isn't she?

An opportunity

One of the the goals I considered at the start of the year was a change in living arrangements, due to a few factors, like my landlord being pants at fixing house issues.

Well, MF (the mutual friend with RB) sent an email today about an apartment that's in a good area, near other friends and appears to be a reasonable price and would be available soon. The downside being that it's a two bedroom place and I don't know anyone looking for a place. I might have to work on that though.

Why can't other opportunities (i.e.dating/RB) fall into my lap like this?

A proposition.

I met QC1 for lunch today. One of the first things she asked was if I was interested in a blind date with the same girl as before. Funnily enough, was I was browsing through Plenty of Fish a day or so ago, I saw her on the site, so I do know she's looking. I told QC1 that I wasn't really looking right now, but when I was, I'd let her know.

I'm not sure I will though, or at least not under "blind date" circumstances. There's too much pressure for things to go well. Don't get me wrong, there is under proper date circumstances too, but at least by then, you've already spoken to them, kissed them or perhaps even slept with them. Blind dates are completely different.

I think I'll get in touch with QC1 within a week or so and say that I am looking to meet new people, just not like that. I might suggest that if QC1 was out socially with this person and I accidentally bumped into them, then I'd certainly see if there was any spark/attraction. There's also the fact that this girl knows QC1 and a female cousin of mine. My privacy issues are kind of creeping in, despite advice from USHW that I shouldn't be concerned about it.

I guess it's not just the privacy though. I mean, if I were ever lucky enough to get to go on a date with RB again, I'd take it without a doubt even though the privacy would be an issue with the mutual friend co-worker. There must be something more... maybe it's just plain and simple: I know a bit about her and there is no immediate attraction, so I'm struggling for motivation.

It was good seeing QC1 though. I like her a lot and we really don't see each other often enough. As an aside, I still haven't heard from QC2 about heading out for a drink. She's getting tougher to get hold of these days.

Balls.

I thought I'd watched all the new Battlestar Galactica until the end of the third season, but I've just downloaded the fourth and final season and already, just five minutes into the first episode I know I've missed something. Bugger!

Unexpected night out

I was out last night, unexpectedly, with an old school mate. He mentioned that he was also a member of match.com and had a date this week, despite only being a member for a week. That's made me re-evaluate my own membership, just for a month. I think I might start a new account, get a little more out there, get a few pictures up that better show my face etc. I had photos up before, but they were distance shots that didn't really show my face.

I might get one of my female friends to write up my profile too. I did it once for A, so I'd imagine she'd happily return the favour.

Maybe then my experiences of online dating might actually get better.

Meh

I was out at the cinema tonight with, amongst others, JB. Due to a mix up at the till, we were sitting apart from the others. It's been a while since it was just me and a girl at the cinema. E, I think, which shows how long ago that was. It, once again, made the old feelings about being single rise up.

It's not attraction to JB, though she is a good looking girl, it's just the bigger picture.

Even with the better social life, I just don't find myself in enough situations where I can meet women.

Another goal for the list

I think another goal for this year is to find another place to live. Thee are two issues... the first is that the landlord takes far too long to get things done. An issue raised when I first moved in early last year is still unresolved and another, more serious problem, is at least six months unresolved. This is far too long in my book, and a landlord should be acting on something within a few days at the very latest.

The second is that one of the housemates is absolutely useless when it comes to house-related issues. Washing up, housework, getting fuel in etc. are all ignored until he's specifically asked to do so. Even now, with a foot of snow on the ground, he's away sorting out accessories for his hobbies when there's no heating and its his turn to buy, and yet the heating card is still in the drawer in the kitchen.

Both of these are unacceptable and unlikely to change, so if things are still this way in a few months, when the weather becomes nicer, the hunt for a new pad will begin.

Friends

Sometimes I wonder about people. I was having an IM chat with JB today in work. She was bemoaning the lack of contact from a guy she's been interested in for about two years, but who appears to be completely clueless. I've been very good at offering advice and she's been very quick to use me as a shoulder to cry on (well, maybe not to cry on, but she will moan about him to me). She's not very good at picking up signals the other way though.

I don't have anything to complain about to JB, but there have been a couple of times where, had we been on the opposite side of the conversation, I'd definitely have questions to ask.

Today, for example, JB was asking if I'd gotten RB's mutual friend under the mistletoe over the holidays. I replied in the negative and made a few vague comments about having reasons why not, but the expected questions never materialised. There was another point in the same conversation where I mentioned that the last person I properly clicked with was 18 months ago (RB, naturally), but again, the expected questions never arrived.

I'd definitely have asked the questions of JB though. Maybe I should make sure she realises that if she asks a question, there's a very good chance I'll answer it.

Questions about girls

A few days ago I was having a conversation about what I like in girls and what I think is out of the ordinary. I don't know how weird these are per se, but some combination of the following is appealing to me, beyond my usual “type”. It's like a female pick 'n' mix, so I am aware that some of my choices are contradictory.

• Short/shoulder length hair... preferably dark (though seeing this on a girl that suits it is rare). See Hannah Spearitt, for a blonde example or Frankie Sandford as a brunette. Definitely not long hair though (and by that, I mean anything longer than shoulder blades).

• "In proportion" girls... i.e. tits and ass not too big or too small for their overall body size. This wouldn’t matter if they are size 8 or size 14. QC2 is very much like this – slim with a good figure. FBS was similar. Hannah Spearitt is also a good example of this.

• Tattoos and/or piercings... in moderation. A few of either/each, but no arm sleeves, please. Angelina Jolie and Megan Fox are probably just a little too tattooed, but I like the style of their tattoos/tattooing. QC3 has a few tattoos and also used to have a few piercings.

• Tall-ish. Any girl over 5'6" is tall IMO, but not as tall as me in heels, so probably less than 5’10” if they want to wear three-inch heels.

• Intelligence with the odd ditzy episode. It's just cute.

• Hearty laugh... V laughed a lot, which is attractive in its own way, but she had this dirty-sounding husky laugh. Every time she laughed, I was turned on immensely.

I suspect these are a little more out of the ordinary:

• Girls that are a tiny bit ripped... not totally, but there's just a vague outline of a nice tight tum/six pack and a bit of evidence of some gym time. When I first met QC3, she was like this – an amazing flat tummy. Some of the girls off Strictly Come Dancing are good examples of this. Here's Allison Stokke ticked both "in proportion" and "ripped" boxes.

• Girls in business suits.

• Hair coloured a non-natural colour - blue, pink, shocking red, platinum blonde, pastels etc.

A chance encounter

Earlier today I was thinking about QC2 and how we never met for Xmas drinks. When I was out doing some food shopping, who did I bump into, but QC2!

Strangely, the first thing that popped into my mind was how short she was. I always remember her as being taller, though every time we see each other, we're sitting in a pub. She's still very cute though.

Anyway, we had a brief chat (she was with family) and parted with the understanding that QC2 would be in contact soon to arrange that drink.

2009 - a retrospective and 2010 - Plans

2009 was a mixed bag... the early part of the year was very successful. I was in a position to move to a job within the company that would offer better prospects in general. In terms of socialising, I hooked up with a few people from work which improved my social life immeasurably and within there are a few people I actually regard as friends, like JB. Dating was a complete washout, even with my pro-active membership on Match.com and my own attempts to contact girls that look interesting to me was, quite frankly, appalling. At least, it was appalling in terms of getting a reply out of intelligent, cute women.

The second half of the year fell apart because of an unwanted internal move within the company that resulted in me reporting my boss to higher management for borderline harassment.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm glad to see the back of 2009.

What for 2010 then?

I think the most important thing is to sort out my professional life. I'm still stuck in this role where me and my boss don't get on, so I need out and I'm not sure human resources are going to be much help. It's all up to me.

Goal #1: Move to a new team or find a new job externally. I might have to do something more to make myself a better employment prospect like take a night class or do some self-study for a professional exam.

Goal #2: Lose some weight and get fitter. I have a gym membership, but I need to be doing something a bit more like sort out my diet. In terms of exercise, I need to be doing something at least three times per week - playing footy and/or hitting the gym and if I could supplement that by walking to and/or from work, then I think this could be a very achievable goal. In terms of weight, I need to lose about two stone (28 lbs, 12.7 kg).

These are my two main goals for this year with the possible little sub-goals built-in that would help me achieve those targets.

Some other ideas that have been floating around my head are:

Some travelling - perhaps even quite far afield for a relative's wedding later in the year with a few shorter city breaks.

Learning to drive - I've always hated driving when I've done lessons before, but it's something that I've recently started to think about. There's a local firm that will offer to do it in 4 weeks at a cost of £500. If I were going to do it, I'd want to do it as quickly as possible.

Dating - things haven't changed here since last year. I'm still not enjoying the single life, so I'll continue to look. I'm still semi-hoping to meet with RB again. I'm kinda surprised that the mutual friend hasn't asked me about RB, but that's my only link to her right now and it's the slimmest of slim chances.

These are my initial goals for 2010... hopefully, I'll be able to strike these of my list and add some more later, but for now, this is enough to be getting on with. In order to perhaps help me along, I think I'll sign up to 43 Things. I don't know if that's going to help, but let's see?

2010 is under way!

We're only two days into the year and I've already had my first social engagement of the year... well, it was kinda the last one of last year that ran long into New Year's Day.

It was a party round at a friend's house, just round the corner from where I live. It started early and finished late - very, very late. I think it was nearly 7 AM before I crawled into bed. My own bed, sadly, and alone. I'd mentioned to USHW a few days ago that getting laid was one of the best ways to start a new year - plenty of sex, plus a long, lazy morning in bed with a sexy, naked woman, cuddling.

The party was great fun. I took a lot of pictures, though most of them are of a very small bunch of people. I had a bit of fun with RB's mutual friend and we were lamenting our single status especially given that one of the world's largest nerds left the party early to meet a young female. A few people, in the past, have suggested that I make a move on the mutual friend, but I'm not interested in her in that way and I still have this hope that the mutual friend will set up another meeting between me and RB.