Date 143

"I went to London and I..."

Another date where not much happened. When I think back I'm also amazed that I went all the way into London to meet her too.

She lived on the Isle of Wight and we'd been chatting on Whatsapp for a while so there didn't appear to be much chance we were going to meet due to the distance. However, she was staying in Guildford with family (where she used to live) and suggested a date. I'm still surprised that I agreed though as I didn't have anything on in London and it was a relatively quick date as she didn't want anything to eat so it only lasted a few drinks, plus all the times she kept going outside for a cigarette. I didn't fancy her at all and I presume she felt the same.

We kept in touch for a bit but there was never any question that we were going to meet up again although the most memorable thing she did for me was give me a heads up when a Lego Star Wars Millennium Falcon had its price slashed to under £100 so we both bought it!!! (Our mutual liking of Star Wars Lego led to me actually buying her a small spaceship for our date!).

I didn't hear from her for a while then I got a message from her asking how I was but I think it was only to let me know that she had a boyfriend who she'd met locally. 

Date 134

"And if you have five seconds to spare, then I'll tell you the story of my life."

Things really moved fast with this Guardian Soulmater after we'd exchanged initial messages, although I can't remember who initiated contact first.

She lived in South West London, which didn't bother me despite the distance, as I'd lived and worked in that area for over 20 years. And after a few emails she began to text incessantly and would Facetime me of an evening fairly regularly. This was quite fun in the beginning but it got really annoying as for about the first two weeks she was shitfaced every single night so her late night calls were essentially drunken ramblings. I also got a bit fed up one night when a drunk friend of hers was there with her when she called on Facetime and began interrogating me about my past dating experiences, so I ended that call prematurely.

I was sort of intrigued by her at the same time as she used to be a tv and theatre actress, so we set a date to meet. A few days before this, she suddenly had the house to herself and asked me at short notice to stay the night. Initially I said yes but then had to attend an important last minute meeting early the next day so told her I couldn't make it. She didn't take it well and behaved like a spoilt child which set alarm bells ringing and I started to not look forward to meeting her. I'd also been put off as her husband still lived in the marital home with her and the children as they hadn't finalised their divorce yet so all this seemed a bit complicated, so maybe it was just as well I didn't go to hers.

When we did meet at the South Bank she was good company as we had dinner and drinks, but it was very obvious that she knew nothing about me as in all the time we'd been in contact, she'd just talked about herself and her life but had forgotten to ask me anything. We did share a brief snog at the end of the night though, so it wasn't all bad!

We kept in sporadic contact afterwards but I've not heard from her for a couple of months so I doubt our paths will cross again.

Date 126

"I've spent too long on your trail. Far too long chasing your tail."

After trying to get by for almost a year by solely using free dating sites, I went back onto Guardian Soulmates after being a sent a massive discount. I was getting a bit fed up with Tinder dates cancelling on me and/or disappearing.

Two of the major times this happened were just so rude. With the first one, I'd booked a table for dinner on a Friday night and only found out she was cancelling when I texted her the night before to confirm. She claimed that she couldn't get a babysitter, although she hadn't made any effort to let me know. But she said that she really wanted to meet me. So, the following week I booked another table at a restaurant for a Sunday roast. She was going to be in Brighton for a hen weekend and even though I said I didn't think that was a good idea as surely she'd be nursing a massive hangover, she assured me she'd go easy the night before, and be fine. True to form, an hour before we were due to meet on the Sunday I received a text from her cancelling as she'd gone home that morning as she felt ill from all the drinking. I really wasn't impressed at all and had no interest in meeting her now.  However, she contacted me later on and said she'd definitely meet me the following week. We agreed to meet on a Saturday evening, but when I texted her to confirm the finer details the night before, she ignored it and I never heard from her again.

Something similar happened on another Tinder date and this was equally as infuriating. In this case we'd set a time and place to meet and I only found out she was cancelling when I messaged her the night before to confirm and she said she was ill and couldn't make it (and again hadn't made any effort to let me know). She said we could reschedule it for the following week at the same time and location. Again, I texted her the night before to confirm and when I awoke the next day I checked my messages and she'd deleted me from Tinder without saying anything. I could have quite easily just turned up because as far as I was concerned it was set in stone (had she not deleted me).

I therefore thought that I'd made the right choice by going back onto GSM after having a lot of contact with a delightful woman from Hastings. We spoke on the phone and made plans to meet. However, she vanished as well when I contacted her to confirm our date...

At this point, I didn't think that I'd ever go on a date again! But then I got chatting to a really funny stand-up comedian and actress on GSM. We seemed to share the same sense of humour and had a really fun first date. I'm not sure if I fancied her but we got on really well and agreed to meet up again.

We continued texting the next day but then they just stopped, so I took the hint, and by now I'd lost the motivation to chase people up.

Date 113

"The Story of my Life."

You meet someone and you fancy them, they're funny, clever, great company, they collect vinyl and read graphic novels and they're 8 years younger than you. You spend the whole evening with them and they absolutely enchant you but the only problem is they don't fancy you back....story of my life...

After sharing a bottle of wine (we went halves on it) with this delightful date from OKCupid, she said she wanted to go out for a second date at the end of the night. However, when I texted her to ask if she fancied dinner for our next dalliance she'd decided that we'd be better as friends and that she hoped she hadn't misled me. We then met up again in that capacity for more drinks a couple of weeks later and it was another good night. It also transpired that she likes her men big and hairy, with her current crush being the character of Andri from the BBC4 Icelandic drama: Trapped.

Maybe I should get a makeover...

Date 20

"That's the story of my life."

Again, a fun afternoon and evening of food and drink spent with this next date. And, again; I never saw her for a second time.

I mailed her a day or so after and I was quite disappointed when she made it clear that she didn't want to go on a second date as I was quite attracted to her and thought we'd got on well, but at least she was honest. Oh, well. Next!