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.

A surprise!

Interestingly, MfW hasn't been beating down my door looking to head out to the pub. I thought that would have been a dead cert given the events of the middle of the week. I'm half-glad, half-disappointed. I wouldn't have minded another night out at my favourite pub, but I had already decided that it would be a quiet weekend after last night and I have semi-planned to go to the gym tomorrow morning, which would almost definitely be ruled out if I were in the pub.

On the other hand, if MfW had suggested a few drinks, I'd have been right there.

Old friends.

I'm feeling a bit 'meh' today. I was out last night with a crowd of people from school for a birthday and I had a great time. I always do with the guys and girls involved, but I kinda realised that I am starting to lose touch with some of them, one guy in particular. This is disappointing because I like to think that I keep in touch with people who are important to me, but it seems that I am not as good at this as I first thought, so I'm going to have to make more effort there.

Perhaps it's only natural to grow apart after more than twenty years of friendship (and hundreds of miles between us physically), but while I have been happy to let others slip away, some I want to keep close, and these guys definitely fall into that category. It's not just me, though. There have been times over the past six years or so when I feel that I am only on the fringe of things - invited as an after-thought to various trips away etc. and while I think part of that is because I'm not in contact as much as I should be, the same applies to the guys, too.

As an aside, when out and about, I saw Date No. 1 in one of the bars we were in. I don't know know if she saw me as she was literally only in and out again, but it would have been funny if she had, seeing as she had been on dates with both myself and M (I can't remember if I even mentioned this part on Baby Needs... and, yes, we have compared notes and found that we both had very similar experiences and opinions of her).

Oh, and during a quick Facebook chat with MM, we've tentatively arranged a night out that I hope will mean MMBF will come along (it should as she was the reason the conversation started in the first place). While I didn't outright admit to attraction to MMBF, it was certainly implied, so I hope that MM took the hint.

Strange things are afoot at the Circle-K

It appears that MfW split up with his girlfriend last night. She started making noises about moving in together and he point blank refused to even talk about it, so she callied it quits there and then! I fully expect him to start suggesting heading out at the weekend.

I miss E.

The title says it all, really, and it's not about taking drugs. After speaking to her tonight, I realise that I miss her terribly.

Dreams, again.

It's been a busy weekend - last minute drinks with M, a christening and our annual SuperBowl party with D and others. Bearing in mind I've had a lot of alcohol and not a lot of sleep, it guess it's unsurprising that my dreams were very weird last night. As usual, I can't really get a grasp on the details, but suffice to say, CAB appeared and QC2 was there, but she'd split up with her long-term partner.

Again, no idea why they appeared. I've not thought about CAB since my last proper conversation with USHW quite a few months ago where she was asking about some of the people I've posted about here. QC2 could be slightly different as she's gone AWOL again, but I've got more incentive to get her out socially (MMBF), but why I would dream that she's single after nearly 20 years of dating the same bloke is beyond me.

Maybe I analyse these too much?