Close... but no cigar.

I managed to grab a couple of hours with G at the weekend. FP was out too. We ended up doing a mini pub crawl around the town. It was a good laugh. It always is with G, and he was very appreciative of the time with us given recent developments in his family. That's us as a group though. We'd drop anything for any one of us.

While we were out, my eye was taken by a cute girl. I always have a look around when I'm out. As the only single bloke in the group, no-one takes offence. This one was slightly different though. Usually, I'm very much of a "Yeah, she's pretty" then move on, but this girl was different.

She was completely not my "type" - short, blonde, too thin... but there was just something about her. She stood in front of us in the beer garden and lit a cigarette and G and FP noticed that I was very much taken by the girl in question, so we started to make our way over to see if we could get some chat going... until we noticed that she was married. Ah well... we finished our drinks and moved on.

Still... given my lack of opportunities elsewhere, it's nice to know that there are still random women turning up to bars who will make me feel something more than apathy.

*whistle*

Helen Skelton who is currently on Countryfile, really reminds me of RB.

Deja vu there... have I made this point before?

Online dating frustrations

I found this on another blog and thought it looked interesting especially given my recent frustrations with online dating:

http://jonmillward.com/blog/attraction-dating/cupid-on-trial-a-4-month-online-dating-experiment/

It doesn't explain people's behaviour, but it does confirm what I'd always suspected.

Frustration.

The urgent thing that G had to deal with a few days ago was a death in the family. I've known G for many years and while our families weren't friends, they did know each other a little. Going to the funeral was a no-brainer for me. M and BR were there also and we showed our faces at the house afterwards.

That meant I arrived into work in a full suit. Normally, I don't really like wearing suits, but I went shopping with KfW2 last year and got one that I really like and really feel comfortable in. I think that comes across when I wear it because I've had plenty of compliments (though, to be fair, I've always had plenty of compliments when I scrub up, even dating back to FA2).

I bumped into CH in the lobby and she could barely contain herself. In fact I'd go as far to say that she pretty much eye fucked me, which was a huge ego boost. We man aged to arrange coffee for that afternoon. I messaged USHW to gloat about the obvious frustration that I'd caused CH.

I got changed out of my suit and later met CH and she voiced her disappointment that I'd gotten changed. However, the tables were turned. She'd removed her coat that she'd been wearing earlier and was wear a black vest top under a sheer, black blouse. It showed off her figure really well and as she was playing around on my phone, I got a good angle for a perv.

To say that I was frustrated after that was an understatement and USHW laughed when I reported that fact as well.

I discussed the upcoming work thing in a few weeks time which CH (as usual) has said she'll attend. We'll have to wait and see if that actually pans out though. And even if she does turn up, it's likely that MFF (who has recently returned to work) will be there too which would cut down on any shenanigans, but could open up the possibility of talking about CB/dating in general.

The same old faces?

As part of my recent trip to London with FP, part of the plan was to try and meet up with G. That wasn't the case, sadly, as something came up that G had to deal with urgently. Not that it mattered... FP and I still had a great time.

We also spent a day in Brighton. I know a few people who live in Brighton - an unrequited love interest of S's, CAB and a friend I made during one of my online hobbies from ten years ago. The day in Brighton was very much a last-minute thing or I might have made an effort to get in touch with S's unrequited love or my online hobby friend (I'm still in touch with both), but it was CAB I really wanted to see... if just to satisfy my curiosity about how she looks these days (her only Facebook profile picture is several years old, but she looks pretty unchanged as I remember her).

I kept an eye out for her the entire time we were out and about, but I didn't see anyone familiar. It's the first time I've travelled to London in years and not bumped into anyone that I've known. And it's probably for the best that I never bumped into CAB.

Online dating rant, revisited.

A couple of months ago, I had a bit of a rant about online dating. I mentioned that, had I lived somewhere else (I think London was used as an example because I'd been reading the 30 Dates Blog), then I really wouldn't be stuck in the rut that I am.

I had a chance to put that to the test this weekend when FP and myself were briefly in London. Obviously, this isn't the world's most scientific experiment, but I think the results do kinda raise an interesting talking point. The experiment was that I Tindered. For those of you who are unaware of Tinder it's a dating/hookup app for smartphones that uses your Facebook profile. You simply swipe left (no) or right (yes) when you see people you want to meet. Should you both swipe right, then you are given the opportunity to message the other person.

At home, I swipe right maybe two or three times out of ten. In London, I was swiping right nine times out of ten or even more frequently than that. And they just kept coming. I was only in London for a couple of days, but when I had five minutes to myself, I'd idly browse through Tinder, swiping appropriately and being impressed by the standard on Tinder (attractive women writing interesting things and not resorting to clichés or "duck faces"). While it's doesn't given any indication of the numbers involved, you could argue that there's a better class of singleton in London (and Brighton as I was also there for a day).

Or maybe it's because I've seen the same faces pop up on Tinder time after time. I assume they delete their Tinder profile and reactivate it a few days later.

Since I started using Tinder, I've had about three mutual hits - two of which were women swiping right after I had (i.e. I was offline when the match alert happened), but they never followed it up with messages. One was me being online when the alert happened, though when I went to send a messge, the person was gone. I wasn't around in London long enough to see how many mutual matches and subsequent messages would be generated... I should definitely do that the next time I am in London for any length of time though.

And if I learned one thing from all this, it's that I find pictures of attractive women paddling in the sea wearing flowery summer dresses very sexy indeed.

A quick ramble.

I've had a few drinks whilst watching the telly, well, not the telly... a film. Despite my comment last night, I didn't watch The Avengers, but I'm watching it right now. Well, not right now. I've taken a break because there are a few things I really need to get sorted tonight because I'm taking a quick trip out of town tomorrow. A quick 36-hour trip to London. Out tomorrow morning and back on Monday evening. I need to get other stuff sorted though.

I'm hoping to meet up with G while I'm there, but that's a bit touch and go at the moment. I would also have loved to have had a coffee/drink with A or USHW, but time is really against me.

I've also taken to a bit of pondering. Pretty much every time I've been in London, I've 'randomly' met someone I know. Literally, bumped into in the street. It's something that seems to happen to me an awful lot. I think I've talked about it here before. The most extreme example is Kiwi Girl.l A friend of mine was having his stag party in my (and his) home town. During an extended stay in one of my favourite bars, I "rescued" a friend of FP's from some unwanted attention. That happened to to be two attractive Kiwi Girls who were based in London and I spent some time chatting up the blonde one, talking about Lego, colouring in, New Zealand, beer and many other topics.

Beyond a couple of brief kisses, it went nowhere, but about four months later when I was travelling through London to meet up with A, who should I literally bump into on the Tube? Yup. Kiwi Girl.

Who's it going to be this time? RB? I know she's currently based in London.

Saving the world in style.

Before my crush on Jessica Alba, my main celebrity crush was very much Uma Thurman. Much to FA2's chagrin, I would watch films that had Ms Thurman in them, even though they were, for the most part, awful.

When The Avengers opened in 1998, I told FA2 in no uncertain terms that we'd be attending. We'd only been officially dating a few months by that stage, so she wasn't really aware how much of a crush I had on Uma.

We came out of the cinema and headed for a drink. FA2 wasn't very complimentary about the film in general. She quite enjoyed taking the mickey out of me as it was my choice of the film until I opened my mouth...

FA2 thought I was going to protest, but what I actually did was agree with her.

FA2 was flabbergasted.

"But... but... but... you were really looking forward to the film! And it turned out to be appalling!"

I smiled.

"I was looking forward to seeing Uma Thurman in a tight, black leather catsuit. The rest of the film was immaterial."

She laughed and tried to retort that she had enjoyed Ralph Fiennes in a suit as well, but I was too busy reminiscing about the catsuit.

FA2 ended up getting a little drunker than she usually would (she was a stickler for maintaining control of herself and would be horrified if she got drunk and did something stupid or silly) and when she initiated sex later that evening, she was a little more aggressive than usual. I don't know if she was thinking about Ralph Fiennes, but I was certainly thinking about the catsuit.

Why the story now? Well, I've just found a copy of that awful movie... that's my Friday night sorted!

Running Man.

Since the start of the year, CH has been telling me about the running that she's taken up. From what I can tell, she runs various distances but usually between three and six miles at a go. A few weeks ago, she asked if I would join her on a couple of pre-work runs. I baulked and said no, because I hate running, but with trying to get back into my fitness programme again, I changed my mind and said yes to her. She was delighted, but that was a month or so ago and nothing was said about it again.

Until today, when I asked her if she was still running. She hasn't done anything recently, but said she was looking to get back into it, so we've tentatively agreed to do something within the next few weeks... definitely before the end of the month.

I know I said I wasn't going to talk about the actual programme here, but as I've covered the above, I might as well say that I hope do spend the next week getting back into my stretching routine and then start off with a two or three mile run a couple of times per week and take it from there.

I'm hoping that CH's company will motivate me enough to keep it on.

FFS.

I've heard nothing from the letting agent or the landlord over the past few weeks, but I've been in touch with the two new tenants and by all accounts, things should be wrapped up within the next few days. I fully expect at least one of them to be moved in over the weekend.

Out of the blue, MfW pinged me in work today  on instant messenger. Instantly I knew what it was about - the "final" electricity bill. I had asked him to keep the account open and that when the new guy came in , we'd simply change the name on the account. I'm already looking after some of the bills... I'm not taking on ALL the financial responsibility.

He agreed... but two days after he moved out, he sent myself and FNG a text: "Settled up with the electricity people and closed the account. You owe me an extra tenner."

I've not yet paid him. More through opportunity than anything else. He insisted it was a bank transfer, even though I could have paid him in cash there and then. Since then, I've barely been in the house long enough to sit down and worry about setting up a one-off payment for twenty quid.

"Have you had a chance to look at the electricity bill?" he asked.

I replied that I hadn't. I "explained" that his abrupt departure with pretty much no warning and no reason and the uselessness of the letting agent had meant I was out looking at other places, in case everything fell through and the landlord started chasing me for the thousand pounds per month rent that we're meant to be sharing.

He went quiet for a few minutes before popping back up again on IM detailing how much he thought it was. He wants paid because he's both paranoid and extremely tight with money, but after my "excuse" above, he could come out and simply say that he wanted paid.

It might be a bit passive-aggressive, but he will get paid... but when I have the time and inclination to do so, not because he simply demands the money. I mean, it's only been a week, FFS. It would be months at a time between him handing over whatever monies he owed me.

The past few weeks has been a reminder that there's a reason that MfW has no long-term friends. He simply doesn't treat them very well and would appear to be one of those people that dedicates all his time to any girlfriends that he has. Anyone that I know who's appeared on an irregular basis are family members - cousins - rather than friends.

Once I make that final payment, I will never hear from MfW ever again. And that's a good thing.

Random post of nothing in particular.

While going through a couple of pictures on Facebook earlier, I noticed that DSC had reactivated her account.

I deleted her account from my friends list ages ago when we were still seeing each other because she was adamant that she would never rejoin, but I saw some picture where she was tagged or had commented in the past with a new profile picture etc.

I haven't heard from her again since the start of July and I was never in touch by myself... more to apathy than actual dislike. I just couldn't be bothered with all the drama any more.

Being busy.

Yesterday was busy-ish. I did some housework, keeping the place clean and tidy (that's a lot easier since MfW moved out). Then I took KfW2 out for lunch where we spent an enjoyable few hours just chatting about nothing in particular. I returned home, late in the after noon and chilled out for a few hours before I had a night out with S. We tried to get GM out but he had already made plans. It promised a lot, but delivered very little and while the night itself was fun and it was good to catch up with S, I felt it was a little flat.

That was partly due to the fact that I was extremely tired for some reason and also not feeling 100% - a slightly dodgy stomach. Still, after having a few drinks at mine, we managed to hit a couple of bars for a few hours and have some fun.

I called a close to the night quite early - about 12:30 AM - and we returned to mine while S tried to call a cab. I was absolutely shattered by this stage, though the stomach had started feeling normal again.

I'm feeling better now, physically, but I am still extremely tired. Definitely an early night for me, I think.

A quick update/report.

As mentioned before, I've been documenting my fitness programme elsewhere mainly because it has tools to help me out other than a rudimentary blog. It's been about 20 weeks since I started this regime properly, but I've not touched it in the past 8 weeks. July was a very busy, social month and August has been a month of upheaval and injury.

I woke about three weeks ago with a double pain in my back - one at the base of the spine and one about half way up. This ruled out any of the exercising that I've been doing and while that severe pain only lasted about a week, my back hasn't felt "right" since then until yesterday.

So, as tomorrow ushers in the start of the 21st week of the fitness regime, and with all upheaval finally sorted and my back feeling as if it's back to normal, it's time to get started again.

I've lost 8 lbs in weight which is good going given my past 8 weeks and I've managed to maintain the weight, but I have 2 lbs to go to hit my first target that I had hoped to have done by the end of June, then I can look forward to the next target.

There's also CH's offer of running before work to consider. I like the idea in theory, but I know how much I hate running. Also, in a few weeks, KfW2 leaves work, so I'm planning on getting back into playing sports again.

In apropos of nothing...

I've just remembered a story that E's younger sister once told me when I first moved into this place. I had posted a few pictures onto Facebook of the view and she had messaged me to find out where it is...

Except, she already knew were it was, even down to the house number.

She told me that she used to date a professional sportsman who had been the previous tenant and then said...

"If you've taken the first bedroom on the right down the hall, then I've had sex there."

I think she expected to shock me, so she was surprised when I said back:

"Not my room. And as long as you haven't screwed in the living room or bathroom, then we're good!"

However, with MfW vacating the premises, I have now taken over the room in question. I wonder if I should message her and tell her that we've shared a bed, albeit about five years apart?

Talking.

I managed to grab a quick chat with CH earlier and she explained that nothing was wrong and she was simply drunk. Personally, I believe the former, but there was still a tone in her messages where she seemed as if she was trying to say something or provoke something.

I was explaining the weird tone of CH's texts to KfW2. Well, some if it - the emotion and gratitude for what are, to me, everyday behaviour. KfW2 knows nothing of the flirting, touching etc.

The led on to another conversation with KfW2, namely that of me and my ability to handle touchy, emotional subjects. KfW2 essentially admitted that she probably doesn't open to me as much as she would like because I get uncomfortable and can clam up at times.

I've no doubt that there's an element of that - my family weren't particularly open and I've been essentially single my entire life, having only had a few relationships that got beyond the initial "dating" phase, allowing us to open up to each other. It's not something I've had to do an awful lot, so I don't know what to do/say when it happens.

At this stage, it's probably more habit than anything else. I'm simply not used to having those chats, and that probably true of me talking to other people. There's also an element that if I don't notice something, I'd hope the other person would still talk to me, though I know that's hypocritical given my inability to do the same. Plenty of conversations in the past have gone unsaid with QC2 and KfW2 simply because I don't know how to bring them up in conversation.

KfW2 says it's simply who I am, but I know that she's had conversations with me that she's regretted afterwards simply because she saw that I was uncomfortable.

I hope I put her right when I said that I didn't disagree with anything she had said. In the past I have been uncomfortable when some topics are brought up, but ultimately she's my friend and I care for her very much and that I'd far rather be uncomfortable and know what's going on, than comfortable and clueless.

She liked that.

PMA.

Another night of no sleep; a combination of next door having one of their late nights and demons in my head trying to sort out the whole house thing. I'm now here on my own, MfW left yesterday at some point when I was at my sister's house. The paperwork for the two new guys is being created, so I don't envisage them being in until the end of this week... assuming they pass the credit checks. If they don't, well, that's why I've had no sleep recently.

The landlord may be flexible, but it's almost impossible to get someone credit checked and have a lease signed in four days, especially when one of those days is a Sunday and the letting agents have a history of being, quite frankly, useless. So, until the new guys are in, settled and I know the landlord isn't going to be chasing me for the outstanding rent, there's going to be an element of concern.

I'm liking the new room though. It's brighter, quieter, slightly more space and has an en-suite. I'm still figuring out where to put everything, though. There seems to be less storage space even though the room is bigger, but maybe that means I need to de-clutter a little bit.

However, to counter the negativity, I have things to look forward to: a few drinks with QC2, a lunch date with KfW2, possibly meeting M and MM to drop off a christening present (and I've been told by MM that I MUST get M out for drinks).

There's another work thing in a couple of week (unlikely that CH will be out) and a trip to London with FP.

So, it's a case of PMA.