Making progress?

Hmmm... interesting things are afoot. Last night was M's belated birthday party. Lots of friends from all over the UK came over for it and it was good to catch up with a group of friends from school.

I was chatting briefly to MMBF who looked stunning in a figure-hugging dress, but didn't get to say a lot and wasn't able to capitalise on QC2 being a mutual friend or lay any groundwork for something more. I did let slip to MM at the end of the night that I was interested in her, but the response I got wasn't positive. I got the impression that she's very high maintenance and probably hard work. Shame that. I might try and get a confirmation from M if we're out again soon. I think we might be - G is home too for nearly a week, so I'd be very surprised if we weren't out at least once in the next week.

However, the real news of the night was that one of our circle of friends (E3) made a move on me. I used to be attracted to her at school (and don't get me wrong, she is still a very good-looking girl), but now, she's just a friend, or so I thought. We swapped a few lingering kisses - not full-on snogs, but not just quick kisses either. I packed her into a taxi to go home and I walked off home. I feel like I made the right decision, though doubts are starting to creep in. If she'd been someone I'd only met last night, I might have tried to get her back to mine. In fact, had we been alone and not surrounded by friends, I might have tried to take it further, or at least suggest meeting later in the week.

I'm jumping the gun I suppose. It's entirely possible that she only wanted something for last night. I'm not entirely sure how drunk she was or what her goal was, but I played the safe option and packed her off.

Oh, and as an aside, I haven't managed to talk to DSC about the dating site girl, but I've not replied to her last text which was sent on Tuesday. She's not made any contact herself, so it looks like that one's dead in the water. I wish she'd made that clear a lot earlier instead of me having to figure it out. She's a woman in her forties - she should be beyond this kind of game-playing.

Decisions, decisions.

I've been caught in two minds all day about whether or not to go back on my initial decision of not contacting the dating site woman. I have the perfect excuse for lying low for a few days, but I also noticed this on her profile: "...woman who loves life, values honesty, time and people" and "I value my time and the people I love even more", so I started second guessing myself about whether she really was a time waster. I had hoped to pick DSC's brains about this, but she's been noticeably absent from the internet over the past few weeks and this requires a proper chat, not a few swapped text messages. She still doesn't know that I reactivated my account at the start of the year, so maybe I should start with that and go from there... or maybe I should go with my initial gut feeling and not bother even consider talking to this woman again unless she makes contact.

WTF? (Part 2)

Seeing as she sent a direct question, I replied and sent my own text back. She has replied today AGAIN! There's no sign that she's going to say anything about us meeting and this last text is kinda closed, so I'm not bothering with a reply.

I honestly can't read this girl at all.

WTF?

I mean, seriously, what the actual fuck?

I got an apology today from the dating site woman for missing my call and a chatty message. What do I do? Do I reply or do I just ignore her? I'm not the ignoring type, so should I just come out with it and say that we should meet or just stop contacting each other? I really just can't read this at all.

Dating site adventures (Quelle surprise).

I called the girl from the dating site and I must say she has a lovely accent, but surprise, surprise, I found this out by getting through to her voice-mail rather than speaking to her in person. This isn't a huge surprise as I suggested this would happen yesterday, but it looks like all the positive noises coming from her last week were for nothing. Of course, it has only been two hours since I called, but I'm not feeling it this time around. There are a couple more on the site that I might try and contact, but who knows?

Dating site adventures. (Part 2)

Right, against my better judgement, I fired off another text to this girl from the dating site. She'd gone quiet after I suggested coffee early next week, depsite her being very pro-active herself (after all, she contacted me first).

So, under advisement from a few others, I sent a text yesterday afternoon and she replied last night. However, I dunno what's going on. While she appears open to conversation, and she has agreed to coffee next week, I dunno. I'm starting to get the feeling that she can't say "no" and isn't that interested really.

Either way, I've arranged o give her a call over the week so that we can make arrangements about meeting up. As I said before, she seems fun, but I'm expecting her to make it difficult enough to meet rather than just say she's not interested.

My problem is that I shouldn't even bother phoning her. I should bin her off and either shut down the account or contact someone cute but I am stubborn and just want her to say it rather than fucking play the usual games that women play because they can't do tha mature thing.

But, it's the weekend, the weather is nice and part of me is trying to be optimistic and think that she might start being proactive again and maybe send a text or something, like she was initially. Though I'm laying a side bet that when I call tomorrow evening, she doesn't pick up the phone.

Dating site adventures. (Part 1?)

At the start of the week, I suggested to the girl from the dating site that we meet for coffee or a drink. We'd been swapping texts all weekend and while I'm still not sensing a lot of chemistry, we are having a laugh, which is important. My initial suggestion of meeting tonight was rejected as she works shifts and this week is her late shift. My follow-up suggestion of early next week has not been acknowledged as yet, so it looks as if this has gone its course.

I'm still feeling lethargic about contacting anyone on the site, but the increased activity over the past few weeks has at last made me consider seriously if I should take it more seriously.

Oh, and I have to share this conversation from last week. I thought it was funny, but it appears she didn't...

Bird from dating site:

Just looking? 

ruuude:

To an extent, yeah.

 

Bird from dating site:

Well I'm worth a look.... 

Bird from dating site:

Is that pic really u?

ruuude:

LOL. What do you think?

 

Bird from dating site:

No lol I know it isn't but u wdnt be the first to pretend to be famous lol

ruuude:

I'm not pretending to be famous.... I just can't be arsed putting up 

a picture. :)

 

Bird from dating site: 

Ugly as sin then?

ruuude:

Unless you have beer goggles on, then yeah ;)

 

Bird from dating site:

f sake why cdnt u be handsome lol

ruuude:

Why couldn't you be drunker?

The start of a big weekend.

I had my time out with QC2 last night. I was pushing the MMBF angle without trying to make it look as if I were pushing the MMBF angle. Also, QC2 had forgotten that I knew MMBF, so she hadn't done any ground work over the past few months, which I'd been hoping for. Apart from that, it was a typical QC2 meet up - lots of chat, a little secret perving by me and just a generally good time.

I'm also still IM-ing this girl from the dating site. She's already asked me why I haven't used her number yet. I'm avoiding the site over the weekend, but sticking with my plan to send a text tomorrow. We were chatting again last night until well after 1Am. That's three nights in a row. I like chatting to her, but I'm not sensing any real chemistry (though I guess we'd need to meet to really see what there is). My plan remains the same - text tomorrow, see where that goes and by Sunday at the very latest, will suggest meeting.

Unless she's so impatient that tomorrow is too late for her to wait. But she does know that I have a lot on this weekend, so hopefully she can just wait until I do text.

Ah well. Also, for the first time ever, I vocalised one of my concerns about the length of time it's been since I met someone I actually really liked (4 years, RB, for the record). I mentioned it to QC2 last night, who said that if broke up with her partner, would probably be in the same situation. I've met plenty of people over the past four years, just no-one single with whom I really connected.

Like buses...

It suddenly occurred to me that it's almost two years since I met Date No. 1. TWO YEARS! If I'd realized that at the time, I'd have shot myself. This coincides with a one of the messages I got recently turning into a conversation - swapped messages leading to IM-ing, leading to her giving me her number last night.

Imagine being on a website where the sole purpose is to meet someone of the opposite sex and only meeting two people in two years? While, I've not yet met this woman, I've enjoyed the conversation and might well ask her for a coffee or a drink next week. That'll be after the weekend though. It's a busy one. I'm out tonight with QC2, tomorrow with GfW and on Saturday with (amongst others) KfW and KfW2.

She's an night owl, so I'm guessing that she'll be online tonight when I return from seeing QC2 and we'll continue chatting. I have an idea that I might send her a quick text on Saturday before I leave the house and see what develops from there. She has her own social things this weekend, but taking the contact off line and into the real world is the next step and Saturday seems a good time to do it. She doesn't yet have my number, so a quick message is the ideal way to give her my details.

If you build it, they will come.

OK, so I'm paraphrasing "Field of Dreams" a little here. But I have a little confession to make. Despite all my whinging about online dating sites, I've been a member of one again since the start of the year. It was all part of ticking off my goals for the year, especially with regards to meeting new people and getting dates with women. I didn't make any effort; I set up the account, wrote a profile, I didn't upload any photos, save one of a celebrity just so I could have any photo on the site, and left it be. I logged on once every three or four weeks to see what was going on.

I don't know why I took this halfway attitude. I hated it last time - it was a complete ego killer, so I should have either not bothered at all, or went all in with photos and being pro-active.

Suffice to say, nothing at all happened. There are a few girls that look interesting, but having been pretty much ignored last time, I decided that this time I wasn't going to put myself out there. Last time I sent messages to cute, interesting looking girls and got nothing back in return - not even a "fuck off" or a "sorry, you'r not my type".

However, something strange has happened over the course of the past 48 hours - I've had over a dozen women message me. Sadly, none of them are on my "favourites" list and it's unlikely I'm going to get to a stage where I meet these women, but it is strangely good for the ego and some of them seem decent enough, albeit not dating material.

I do wonder what has changed over the past 48 hours though to have made this profile interesting enough for women to message me. Who knows? Here's hoping that, whatever it is, someone off my favourites list gets in contact!

Socially speaking.

I finally got another night out with QC2 sorted, so I will be skirting around the issue of MMBF later this week. I still haven't seen her since late last year, so I'm guessing that she's not interested in me, otherwise MM and M would have forced a few social events to get us in the same room/pub/whatever. Or you'd hope so. Unless she hasn't said anything to MM, but I really doubt that's the case.

I did suggest something to MM a few weeks ago about getting them all out for a night to a local club, but that's failed to materialise so far.

I'm not hopeful, but I did promise USHW before Xmas that I would put in the effort to at least see if there was any possibility.

Regardless, I'm looking forward to seeing QC2. I had tried messaging her a few times since the start of January but never got a reply. Some Facebook contact over the past few days has gotten us to the point where I think we have a date and time nailed down which is going to give me something to look forward to this week.

Head hunted?

I got an email out of the blue last week regarding a job offer. It's from a recruitment agency, so who knows what's actually going on, but I have said that I am interested in hearing the girl out. I'm not actively looking for a new job - I kinda like where I am at the moment, but things have been happening in work that lead me to believe that at least keeping my options open is a good thing. My boss, who is a friend of mine, has had a rough time of it since the New Year, so I am a bit apprehensive about putting him under more stress. He wouldn't begrudge me going for a new job though and I'd at least have the decency to let him know what the score was. There is also an outside chance that, if I were to be offered a better salary/package elsewhere, that the company might go some distance to better my current package or match it, so I could get all the benefits with few of the disadvantages.

That's all speculation as I've yet to get back to the girl about talking to her. I've not even updated my C.V. as yet. I don't see the point unless the offer is worthwhile.

Another for the Draft folder.

Hmmm... I think that's definitely another one for the draft list. It's nice to type things out and get my head around them and even feel like I've gotten something off my chest, but some things simply aren't meant to be for public consumption.