Dating in 2008

II'm really trying here to expand my horizons, be more amenable to meeting men and getting in the dating pool again. Wouldn't you know, the first date I have been on in YEARS turned out to be a flop. First the man (and I use that term only to acknowledge gender) seemed over anxious to meet. What is wrong with talking for a couple of weeks over the phone getting a general feel for the other person. This guy was just impatient, or desperate one... My next clue that I should probably back out came when he seemed to be offended that I wasn't interested in riding in his car. Call me paranoid if you want to, but I ride with very few people and a virtual stranger is definitely not among the few. He insisted we meet at a place I would know how to get to, (the big chicken for the Atlantan's reading this blog) and we could go from there to dine someplace. Uum. No... Just tell me where we are going to dine and what time, I'm a smart, intelligent, always on time, NOT directionally challenged woman. I'll find it.

Fast forward to date night, last night. We agreed to meet at 5:30pm. He calls at 4:30 to see if I had left yet. No, I hadn't. He asked me if I was sure I would make it on time. Yes, I'm sure I'll make it on time. 5:10 he calls back and asked me where I was, I replied that I was about 10 minutes away, and he said that was impossible with traffic. I informed him that I don't "do" traffic and that I would be there by the agreed upon time. All the time I'm getting pissed that he would doubt me, especially when he asked if was I sure I knew where the restaurant was. WTF? I'm not 16... nor prone to getting lost and again, definitely not late. I arrived at 5:20 and of course he was already there and waiting. Dinner was uneventful, conversation was easy I chalked up his insecurity of my ability to arrive on time with his bad experiences with women,or the myth that women can't drive and don't know their way places. I told him over dinner that I could give him the latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates to the restaurant if he wanted me to and lay it out on a grid and triangulate it with restaurants of similar cuisine. (Hey I'm a geocacher, what can I say and no I don't have a GPS mounted in my car.) Let me not belabor the point here, let me get to the good part, when the gender turned into an ass and has thus prompted this blog posting.

He (and I use the term loosely) informs me that he was going to the restroom. He gets up, and I see him talking to the waitress, I assumed he was asking for directions to the facilities but it turns out he was asking for separate checks. Yeah you read right, separate checks, as in he pays for his meal, I pay for mine! He comes back, the waitress comes back and hands us both our checks. Well before I knew it I had called him an ass. I did thank him though but it was definitely a back handed compliment. I thanked him that he proved my family right, they raised me right and to recognize an ass when I saw one. His behind came from a cave, from a family of asses and the apple doesn't fall far from the tree no wonder he's single. I paid my tab and left. My sister said I should have paid for his check and told him to take notes on how it is done.

The more I think about it though the madder I get. Is this the way dating is in 2008? Alright single people, let me hear from you. What motivates you to date? What motivates you to play the dating game? I hate more than anything to be considered dumb, and cannot stand to play games, is dating for me?

Hometown Pride

I get so tired of people giving my hometown of East St. Louis Illinois a bad time. True, we aren't Beverly Hills by any stretch of the imagination, but home is where the heart is and right now my heart is proud of a hometown hero, Dawn Harper! I just want to give her kudo's on my little corner of the 'net and wish her the best as she brings home the Gold in the 100M Hurdles from the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. You Go Girl!

Here is what the Olympic page says about her:
Track & Field
Born: May 13, 1984 East St. Louis, IL
Hometown: East St. Louis, IL
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Ht: 5'6"
Event(s): 100m hurdles
Olympic rookieDawn Harper will make her Olympic debut for the United States this summer in Beijing, where she will compete in the 100m hurdles. Harper, who is coached by Bob Kersee, competed in the 2004 Trials but was eliminated early.
Beijing bound...barelyHarper qualified for Beijing by placing third in the 100m with a time of 12.62 at Olympic Trials in Eugene. She crossed just .007 seconds in front of Nichole Denby for the final spot in the event. "I honestly did not know if I finished third or not," Harper told the Belleville News-Democrat. "I was able to get out of the (starting) blocks well, but then I hit the seventh and eighth hurdles and I saw my dream maybe ending. I just leaned at the finish line as far as I could."
Opposing interviewAfter losing out in her bid to defend her Olympic gold medal, Joanna Hayes surprisingly appeared at the post-race press conference and played the role of a reporter. Hayes picked up a microphone and asked Harper, Lolo Jones and Damu Cherry, "Do the three of you think you can go 1-2-3 at Olympics?" After each of them replied that they believed they could, Hayes said, "That's all I needed to hear," and wished them good luck before leaving.
Kersee connectionHarper is coached by Bob Kersee, the husband and former coach of six-time Olympic medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Joyner-Kersee, who, like Harper, hails from East St. Louis, has stated her intention to get to Beijing to root on Harper.

100 Things you might not know about me

I tink I will edit this post until I list 100 things you might not know about me. I got this idea from reading another blog and thought it was a great thing to do, not to mention the person whose idea I'm about to copy had so many things for which I could relate. Thanks for giving me a topic to discuss, I would love to hear feedback or read others lists of 100 obscure hings.

1. I'm from East St. Louis, Illinois
2. I graduated from high school when I was 15 years old
3. I am unable to birth children
4. I am a Coca-Cola classic addict and collector, and happy about it, no plans on giving it up, put a little Crown Royal in with it, and I'm just as happy as a pig in slop (I'm a country girl too)
5. I am quite opinionated, don't ask if you really don't want to know
6. I have 3 degrees, 4 if you count a funeral science degree
7. I love animals... they give you unconditional love
8. I found love once and lost, not interested in finding it again
9. I cannot draw a straight line, even with a ruler
10. I love to travel, I have incurable wanderlust