Round 19, time to put on some armor! * updated, sorry the draft was posted before I was finished

After a horrible Round 18, I had to better prepare myself.  I tried not to take things personally, but it was getting increasingly difficult.  My ego and self-esteem were taking a major beating.  I told myself to hang on.  My good catch was just up stream.  He was a bit slow and like a typical male was probably refusing to ask for directions or checking out other females!  Lol   Hey, work with me!  If I don't laugh, I'll cry so you're stuck dealing with my cheesy lines. 

For those who are currently using online dating, have you noticed how during certain months all of sudden there seems to be increased traffic and you receive more views and emails?  It's like they come in waves.  Go figure, even online dating seems to have peak seasons!  I laugh because the minute Christmas or Valentine's Day is around the corner, traffic and communication stops abruptly.  Stats claim that January 4th is the day the greatest number of people sign up for online dating!  Must be their New Years resolution - find someone.  God forbid you should have to buy another Christmas gift or make plans for Valentine's Day!  I find late Spring-early Summer sees the greatest traffic.  Probably because we're sick of being stuck indoors and excited to get out and enjoy the nicer weather, usually best enjoyed with company!

And hence started Round 19!

21. Mr. Sports Car
This guy's profile had been up forever.  I remembered him from 2006.  Same picture so definitely not recent and the exact same profile.  He was tall, stocky, had dark hair and eyes and a great smile.  His profile was well written.  He was 53 with 3 children, all over 18.  He lived outside of the city.

His introductory email was very flattering, said he liked Latin women.  We communicated back and forth for a while and asked questions about work, family, activities, etc.  He didn't want to move to the telephone, he preferred texting.  Only 2 red flags so far!  It was time to take his sports car out of storage and he wanted a driving companion.  He was surprised to hear I drove a truck and couldn't wait to check it out.  I agreed to meet him for coffee and go for a drive.  He emailed regularly.  One afternoon the kids came up again and all of a sudden he had an issue with their ages.  His were older, I knew this already.  Now retirement would be an issue.  What?  He didn't travel or do much so why suddenly there were so many issues I had no idea.  These were things we had already touched on.  Then where I lived was a problem too!  The previous year he had been dating someone that lived close to me and things didn't work out.  She wasn't willing to take turns commuting.  And this had what to do with me?  It got so stupid I told him to forget it.  I write enough justifications at work, not going to start writing them to convince a guy to go out with me.  I wished him luck with his search.

22.  Mr. Home Sales
He was 6'6, with blue eyes, salt and pepper hair, divorced with a grown son.  He worked for a home builder as a salesman and was in the process of getting his insurance broker certification.  He was a great writer.  He forced me to work on my French as he was Francophone and didn't speak very much English. 

He was well educated and could carry on a conversation on various topics.  I found him very interesting and he had a great sense of humour.  We texted and emailed for a bit and talked on the phone.  About a week later he wrote to say his mother had passed away.  They had been very close.  He was grieving and swamped with paperwork while trying to make all the arrangements so he said he'd be in touch when things settled down.  I gave him my condolences and offered to help as I was well versed in all that paperwork after losing my husband.  He disappeared and I never heard back.  His profile was deleted.

Weeks later he had a new profile up.  In the pictures he looked terrible.  He had long shaggy hair and  looked stoned.  In his previous profile he was well dressed with short hair and a great smile.  He didn't look good and his profile was weird and didn't make sense.  Oh well, next!

23. Mr. Foot Fetish
He was single, a bit shorter than my preference, stocky with dirty blond hair and light eyes.  His profile was simple, but funny.  We had a few common interests.  I sent him an introductory email and weeks later he was responding.  It was a simple exchange.

He had recently broken up with his long-term girlfriend which his family loved.  He hated his job, wasn't happy in life and didn't know what to do to fix it.  He was working in IT, but no longer found it challenging.  I tried to be supportive and give him ideas as to what he could do, but he was extremely negative.  Didn't sound like the guy that wrote the profile, but we all have bad days.

A couple of days later he wrote again.  He wanted to talk about preferences and said I probably wouldn't like what he was going to say.  I had nothing better to do so I was all ears.  He had a foot fetish.  I thought cool, I love pedicures and massages so no issues.  He told me his previous girlfriend couldn't stand to have her feet touched and this was a huge turn off for him.  To each his own.  Well after this, all he wanted to talk about was my feet.  How they looked, what colour polish I was wearing, how the soles felt, was the skin soft, he wanted me to describe them in detail.....OMG are you kidding me?  He kept asking for pictures of my feet.  He wasn't the least bit interested in what I did for a living, my hobbies, the kids, nothing!  It was all about my feet.  I told him I wasn't interesting in endless conversations about my feet.  There was far more to life and if all he cared about was feet, I was so not for him.  Freak!

24. Mr. Military Police
He was divorced with 2 young children close in age to mine.  He was tall, attractive and had light eyes.  He was from a different ethnic background I had never dated before.  He was new to Ottawa.  His children lived with his ex in Toronto. 

He sent a very nice introductory email and suggested we meet sooner rather than later.  He hated email and preferred to talk in person.  We talked on the phone a couple of times to make plans and decided to meet in the market.  Being new to Ottawa he had no clue where "Le Moulin de Provence" was, but the minute I said the Obama Cookie Shop, he was good.  Lol!

Went met out front.  He looked better than his picture.  He was extremely polite and attentive.  We grabbed some coffee and he had breakfast.  We had the most amazing conversation.  His work was extremely interesting.  He traveled across Canada working on various cases.  He found my job equally cool and enjoyed my stories.  We talked for hours and it seemed like only minutes.  He had to get home and pack as he was flying out to BC.  Although we had a really good time, sadly there was no chemistry.  He's definitely someone I would hang out with and keep as a friend, but I didn't see any potential for more.  There were also custody issues plus the fact that he wasn't happy with his current job and was looking for another transfer back out west.  Oh well, I had a great time and learned some really interesting things about the military police and the work they do.

Certainly not a great round, but it ended well.  I met a really nice guy and had a great time.  As for the others we'll just sweep them under the rug.  Not worth wasting anymore time on them.  I decided I should revamp my profile.  I was becoming a bit jaded so it was hard not to appear angry.  I was just tired and frustrated.  My profile was straight forward and did say I had young children, can't guys read?   

Oh well, there's always tomorrow!

Dateless in Ottawa