Date 93

"Did I really walk all this way."

I was still on a mission to avoid using pay-sites and so my next date came courtesy of OKCupid; I was certainly getting my money's worth.

We met along Brighton sea front and went for a wander, as it was a glorious mid-Summer evening, before we found a nice pub near Hove. We had a few drinks and she was quite good company but there just wasn't any spark or mutual attraction.

She was a few years older than me and a bit of a posh party girl and former chalet girl, so it was clear that we didn't mix in the same circles as I'm a rough Geordie lad. I liked her but we just didn't have anything in common.

When we left the pub she said bye then buggered off to catch her bus and I didn't have a clue where I was so I ended up roaming the streets for quite a while until I used the moonlight and direction of the sea to eventually locate my bus stop about 30 minutes walk away.

Date 92

"Oh, the alcoholic afternoons."

I appeared to be on quite a roll here, as this was the third person I'd met in a row off Plenty of Fish. It's a rarity to even get a reply, let alone a date so I wonder what I was doing right.

We met in my favourite Brighton pub, at the time it was the only one I could ever remember the name of, on another Sunday afternoon. She turned up late and, I have to say in a completely disheveled state. She'd been up late drinking until the early hours of the morning so had only recently got out of bed to come and meet me. And to demonstrate how hungover she was; she proceeded to down two double Bloody Marys in fairly quick succession.

Besides her not being as fresh as a daisy, she also had a very abrasive sense of humour. And for some reason she was very keen to know exactly what my working history was including start and finish dates of every job I'd done. What the hell was that all about?! I also told her that I occasionally did freelance writing and she went off on a rant about how writers are completely narcissistic and big-headed etc. because they have the arrogance to suppose that everyone wants to read what they'd written. I have to admit that when she was in full rant mode I actually nearly got up and left,

It's safe to say that she didn't make a very good impression on me at all, but as we were leaving she asked if we could be friends. Unsurprisingly, I haven't tried to keep that 'friendship' going.

Date 91

"You're just the same as I am."

Another Plenty of Fish date and another normal person shocker!

I had a very enjoyable evening with this Irish lady and we even ventured into a few pubs that I didn't know existed....which isn't very difficult considering my knowledge of Brighton drinking establishments is disgraceful.

We had exactly the same taste in bands and films, which is always a bonus and at the end of the night she said that I was a male version of her. My only quibble is that she's a Manchester United season ticket holder, but being objective I have to admire her loyalty as she drives to every home match despite the distance!

We did get on very well but I don't think that we fancied each other and so haven't met up again. However, we are still in contact and I can see us being gig buddies at the very least. This also means that I now have one friend in Brighton besides next door's cat.

She also turned out to be a 'mutual' friend of Date 94 and gave me some interesting advice about her, but more of that to come.