Let's try that from a different angle...

It's a hot one out there today.

28 degrees Celsius - 84F for those in the USA - and it's blazing sunshine with tiny puffs of cloud meandering by. The humidity isn't too bad today so it only feels like 33C.

Some like it hot. I am one of that some. Why I live in a place that spends half the year at -40 freaking degrees below zero no matter what thermometer you look at, is completely beyond me.

No wait... I have family here. I grew up here. Oh yeah... that's why I moved back. *sigh* I am a glutton for punishment when it comes to the weather, obviously.

But on glorious summer days like today, nothing beats having an iced chai tea latte and conversation with a newly met man.

Ever heard of eHarmony? The ads are all over tv. At least, here they are. Not sure how international they are. I know they are in (and originated in) the US as well as in Canada.

They do things very differently from all the other dating sites I've been on. In the past, I just couldn't be bothered with their gazillion page questionnaire to assess your personality and dating needs and wants.

But after about three years of time on all the other sites, cruising through profile after profile, seeing the same faces and the same writeups no matter when I went, I decided it was time to bite the bullet and give eHarmony a whirl. Because what did I have to lose besides some cash?

So, on July 19th, I dutifully sat in front of my computer for ages and answered all their questions, inputted my must haves and can't stands, determined what kind of food I like to eat, what movies I like and what books I prefer, along with a list of things I do in my spare time.

Day One I received 11 matches in my inbox. I've put my distance limit on 300 miles, so the area extends into each province on either side of Manitoba, as well as several states just south of the border.

I think I really didn't know what to expect because you can't surf through profiles on this site. It doesn't show you who is online. You just have the matches in your mailbox to look through.

So I did. All met the requirements that I spelled out, plus matched my personality profile as determined by eH (or so they say, but that's what they get paid the big bucks for, right?). I looked at pictures and read profiles, looked at their choices for restaurant types, movies, tv shows, books, activities. Most seemed reasonably close to mine.

On the second day, I get a request for communication from a local guy.

eH does this thing called 'guided communication', where the first party to make contact picks 5 questions from a big long list and sends them to you. You reply to them and do the same: pick you own 5 questions from the same list (there are a good 30 there to choose from) and fire them off, awaiting his responses (the questions each have four answers to choose from so it's multiple choice). You then go to round 2 of questions from the next list, each picking 5, answering the other's five, and reading the responses (again, these are multiple choice). Then you get to write out three questions of your own, and the other person answers in long hand. No picking from a line-up of pre-selected answers. They do the same back to you.

The step after that, if all is going well, is a real live email. And that is how things went for me over the past few days. We each went through all the guided steps and then got to the email stage late on Thursday. We talked on the phone yesterday. We decided to meet on Sunday (today) for a face to face. We now have a 'first date' set for Tuesday evening.

So far, the only real difference between us is I have no children and he has three, one of which lives with him full time and the other two are part time. We seem to like to do the same kinds of things for activities, enjoy the same kinds of movies and tv shows, each have a dog, share a lot of the same basic beliefs about life in general. Now it comes down to seeing if there is chemistry. We enjoyed our hour and a half chat at the local Starbucks (where I introduced him to iced chai tea latte, which is much less sweat inducing on a hot day than hot chai tea latte!).

The funny thing is, I remember him from one of the other dating sites. He said he had been on there but not since last year. I even remembered his 'moniker' on there... said I had recognized his face, even though the photo he had on eH is not the same as what he'd had online previously. He blushed and said he didn't know how he missed me back then!

We had a good laugh about that! Perhaps our paths weren't destined to cross back then, but now they are?

Sunday, Sunday...

I did sweet bugger all yesterday, other than go to the grocery store, and forget things, and have to make a second trip.

So today the list of things to get done is long. And if I ever get my ass away from this computer, I just might get some of them done!

Cut the grass - waiting for the part of the yard in the shadows to dry - we got buckets of rain yesterday (along with a great lightning show!)

Strip the bed and wash the linens. And all the towels.... doggy spit rags included (but in a separate load, along with her bedding).

Wash my clothes - uniforms need to be cleaned for new work week...

Vacuum the entire house.

Spot clean the carpets where the dog has been sitting/lying down... I think I need to get in the habit of wiping her bum every day... why do dogs have to get messy as they get older???

Take the Bissell Green Machine to the stairs. When I rented a Rug Doctor last week to clean the carpets, the upholstery/stair attachment was nonfunctional. I got a partial refund but the stairs are still in dire need of a good scrub!

Wash all the floors. Luckily, this is easy. They are ceramic tile.

Clean the bathrooms.

Okay... it is now 12:30... time to get a move-on!

On a whim...

I decided to set my search parameters a little south of the border on the dating website, just to see what's out there. It is only a bit over an hour's drive from Winnipeg to the US border, so in all reality, there are potential dates waiting just across the border.

And seeing as how things up here in Canada have been stagnant for quite some time, or just downright silly, I figured 'what the hell... give it a whirl and see what comes up on the radar.'

So I set the distance at 50 miles around Grand Forks, North Dakota (which is just over an hour south of the border). That's the state right below Manitoba, and Grand Forks is the closest city of any size. I was not disappointed.

There are lots of men who fall meet my basic requirements living a stone's throw across the border. I've even marked one as a favourite to check out again and perhaps email to see if we can get a conversation started.

(Now I know you are all saying, but what about Mr Recent Past? Yes, he is still around, but nothing much is happening there so I am not holding my breath. If he wants to see me, he's gonna have to step up to the plate. Despite getting along just fine, that hasn't happened much yet, so perhaps he's not really that into me. Whatever....)

So the Man of Interest seems to be more of a country kinda guy (even has horses... that seems to be right up my alley, doesn't it!) but also has a professional career and a formal education, and even better, he has a very good command of the English language (as evidenced by his humorous and well written profile). All that means something to me, so now it will be to see if there is any mutual interest. And, just as important, if he is willing to make a go of things with the distance factor involved if we seem to hit it off. I'm at the point where I have nothing to lose, so why not? I'm certainly not finding what I want or need close to home.

Of course, I haven't even contacted him yet, so all this may be totally moot.

But one thing I did notice on the profiles from ND is that more men put divorced than occurs up here. Way too many guys put single up here, even if they were married and are now divorced or even just separated. That bugs me, cuz it ain't true. Just say it like it is, already!

Anyway, it's been fun cruising through profiles down there. I have no idea if anything will come of this at all, but you never know until you try, right?

Weather forecast

Skies clear and temperatures on rise in southern Manitoba

WINNIPEG -- As the late, great Mr. Rogers might have said, it’s a beautiful day in the neighbourhood!

Get ready to be very excited today, Winnipeg, because, like a teenager’s skin, it’s starting to clear up out there.

As we drove ourselves to work this morning, the sky, pock-marked by greasy, unsightly clouds in recent days, was stunningly blemish-free, if you follow our rather disgusting metaphor.

We would liked to have taken the time to enjoy the serenity of the moment, but unfortunately we are on the early-morning shift and had a medical need for coffee and the lineup at Tim Hortons was longer than the Great Wall of China and moving at the speed of airport luggage.

But don’t cry for us, southern Manitoba, because the point is it’s shaping up to be a very nice day, with Environment Canada predicting sunny skies, a few afternoon clouds and a daytime high of a mellow 24 C lightly under the normal high of 26 C at this time of the year.

And guess what, kids? Friday isn’t looking too shabby, either. The weather office says it will be sunny with a high of 26 C, which means we will be normal. You like being normal, right? Of course you do.

Sure, there’s a few clouds and a 60 per cent chance of showers in the outlook for Saturday, but, hey, we don’t need to talk about Saturday, do we? Not when we have today!

No, the important thing is you need to immediately drop whatever you are holding — unless it happens to be a baby or, possibly, our newspaper — head outside and, like a blemish-free teenager getting ready to pick up his prom date, celebrate the beauty and majesty of a cloud-free Manitoba morning.

Because, as any teenager knows, you can never tell when we’ll get another break out.

— Doug Speirs, Winnipeg Free Press

Update: Me? A tease???? hehehehehe

Long phone conversations...

Online flirting...

Afternoon rendezvous...

;-)

In all reality, life is pretty good. Yes, I work lots to pay the bills, but I pay them. I have not defaulted on any, and don't plan on that... ever.

I have a very secure job with a decent pension plan, and a half-assed health benefits package, but I don't get sick much so it does what I need at this point.

I have some great friends. I have a fantastic family. I am (for the most part) healthy and active. Yeah, I have aches and pains from aging and past injuries that plague me, but nothing debilitating to the point of not being able to carry life as if I were (sort of) normal.

Hey, I have never professed to be normal... that sounds much too boring , in my mind. I'd rather be thought of as quite pleasant but slightly eccentric...

I've made friends with people all around the world through the Ethernet, and although I tell myself I spend way too much time in front of the computer, it is something I enjoy and is, in a small way, mildly productive. I certainly don't fritter away hours playing games online. I have cut back on my online time and am happy with the balance in my life.

And someone from the not too distant past is re-entering the present. Who knows where that will lead? I'm quite happy to find out.

To all my American friends...

I mean, seriously!

So... met a new guy last week. Did the meet and greet thing, which went well.

We met again on Saturday and played pool, had a few drinks, yakkedity yak... usual 'first date' stuff. Was a lot of fun... we hit it off nicely.

Wed. evening, he invited me to his place for dinner. He was very drunk when I got there. Said he had been helping out his best friend all day, the two of them laying sod and drinking beer.

Okaaaaaaay. It was hot and that's pretty physical work. But come on! He knew I was coming over...

Thursday he came to my place for a BBQ. We spoke on the phone in the morning and he said he'd call in the afternoon when he'd done all this chores (mowing the grass, doing laundry, cleaning his house). Since I hadn't heard from him by 4:30, I called his house.

No answer... left a message on his machine to give me a call.

7:35 rolls around and I am *this* close to calling his machine and telling him he's stood me up, when the phone rings. He'd forgotten it was a buddy's girlfriend's 40th birthday. He'd been at the party. Figured he'd be there for half an hour... riiiiight.

Comes to my place by 8:15... drunk again. And driving yet!

Enough already. I was married to a drinker before... I have absolutely no desire to be involved with one again.

Plus... his profile says he's a nonsmoker. NOT! He smokes. Plain and simple.

So today was the email to say this ain't goin' nowhere, honey.... good luck finding a party girl who smokes.

What an idiot..... *sigh*

Crap...

It would appear that the air conditioning in my truck has crapped out. We're supposed to hit 32C today. Good thing the only driving I needed to do is now done, and it was only 25C at the time. With the humidity hovering around 80%, it's pretty sticky.

But it is now sunny and that makes my day. It started out with heavy overcast, light rain and distant thunder. Not the way I really wanted Canada Day 2010 to begin. But by noon, it had cleared and we've entered the high UV zone. Yay!

I guess the truck will need a trip to the shop to find out what's going on. It's only the beginning of summer... I can't be without a/c if it stays hot!

I sweat... lots... and that makes my mascara run. And before you tell me to wear the waterproof stuff... I can't. My eyelids don't like it one whit. So I need a sweat free zone for my travels about the city.

Guess I'll have to call tomorrow.... *sigh*