And the Internet Dating Begins...

Not my favorite way to get back on the market for sure, but I figured this will at least get me out there and give me a chance to practice some of the small talk. If you remember, I went right from Ex wife to Hot Girl, who I knew from a previous job. I haven't had a "cold" date in something like 9 years! Scary when I think about it.

So, I signed up for a couple of free sites, put up the minimum profile, and started fishing. There are always thousands of pretty, accomplished, seemingly nice women on these sites. Problem is, there are always WAY more men than women so the hit ratio for guys is pretty low. After a week or so I was talking to a few different women (after a ton of unanswered emails) and lined up a couple dates for this weekend.

Let me say first, that I don't live in fantasy land. I'm 42 with a 3 1/2 year old daughter. I fully realize that the 26 year old lingerie models aren't going to be beating down my door, or even worth my time writing. Of course, like any bonehead guy, I'll lob an occasional email to one of those but it never works out. So, given that ideally I want more kids of my own, I figured early to mid 30's (with or without kids already) is probably my best bet. I also prefer divorced vs never married. Sure I could be totally wrong but at least I know then that she has tried it once.

Now, usually a 2 date weekend isn't in the cards for me. I have a good group of buddies, some single some not, that I hang with on Fridays. Something easy like grabbing a bite, catching a movie or sporting event, or just hanging out. Problem this weekend was that ALL of them were out of town. So I lined up a date Friday night and another for brunch on Saturday.

Friday night was Russian Girl. She's 38, divorced, and a nurse. All good things right. No kids though. She was nice enough on the phone, was attractive, and seemed eager to meet. Of course, when she showed up she was probably 30 lbs heavier than her picture. Not that I'm against a little meat on the bones...I prefer that to a stick skinny woman, but why not just be honest? So I was already skeptical. During dinner she proceeded to talk about her bad divorce, bad last relationship, and her friend who is divorced with three kids who never dates because the kids rule her life. That woman sounds like more my type. She then proceeded to ask me where I was taking her on vacation...HUH? I didn't talk much except about Miss M, and once RG realized that I wasn't one of those Wednesday and every other weekend Dad's who has a ton of time to date, she said a very insightful thing: " You're going to have a hard time finding a woman who's willing to play second to your daughter and to work around your schedule. You should date single mom's since they'll understand better and be more flexible." Couldn't agree more. So, overall the date kind of sucked but at least she was up front about what she did and didn't want (picture thing aside) and we parted ways nicely, agreeing we'd never see each other again.

Date #2: Beautiful Latina woman from Westchester...32, never married, no kids. Had a bad feeling on this one right out of the gate but figured it's just brunch so no big deal. I had a lot to do that morning so I was running a couple minutes late. Probably should have called but figured I was only a few blocks away, people in Manhattan are ALWAYS late, and it was only 3 minutes, literally. I'm a block away and for some reason checked my phone and saw 3 missed calls from BL. Not checking them I called her right away. She picked up and angrily said "Are you standing me up?" HUH? I replied calmly no, that I was a running a bit late, apologized, said it was only 1:04 now, we were supposed to meet at 1:00, and I was 30 seconds away. "Well, I left." she says in a huff. Too weird. Figured she was only a block or two away so I told her to come on back and we'll start over. Ok she says.

I then waited 25 minutes and she never showed, so I went home. Thirty minutes later she calls me again. I didn't pick up and checked the message afterward. She actually went back to the restaurant after I left, got angry that I stood her up a second time, and left me a scathing message to never call her again!!! Don't think that will be a problem.

Geez, this is what I have to look forward to? There's gotta be a better way.

Weekend success was, however, that I randomly met a very cute woman (in CVS no less) after my date Friday night. TOTAL cold pick up which I NEVER do. For that story though, you'll have to log in tomorrow... :)