Date 129

"Kitchen aromas aren't very homely."

My first date of the new year and I again made a resolution to not pay a subscription for online dating, so I went back to OKCupid. This lasted all of one date as it turned out.

As was becoming quite common, '129' cancelled last minute when we were due to meet for drinks on a Friday night, due to an issue with her builder. She did however suggest that we should meet for a meal the following night, which was probably a better plan.

So, I booked a table at a Thai restaurant in Hove, which I'd been wanting to try out for a while. The date was uneventful and all I can really remember was that we had to wait 90 minutes for our main course, even though we'd been told that we had to vacate the table after two hours. which they thankfully didn't enforce. It was actually the second time I'd been to this group of restaurants, and despite its rave reviews, I've never been very taken by the cuisine.

She was a perfectly nice person but there was absolutely zero chemistry between us and I was impressed when she said as much at the bus stop. 

So, same shit, different year...

Date 122

"And who hears when animals cry?"

Back to Tinder I went and not much to report.

I shared a few Guinness's with this very friendly and effervescent individual, and we actually got on very well as she was very chatty too. All that I can remember from our conversations though was her telling me that her brother's cat had befriended a local fox. Apparently they used to knock about together and sunbathe in the back-garden after forming an unlikely alliance against the not so welcoming neighbourhood cats.

Given that that's the only thing I can recall about her probably didn't bode well for meeting up again, but after wisely deciding not to end the night with a few shots, we actually planned to meet for a second date involving dinner as the evening had actually been enjoyable.

However, when I contacted her again she claimed to have met someone else (very quick work on her part!), so I didn't get the chance to be regaled with any more unusual animal anecdotes.

Date 101

"Meat is Murder."

For some reason, I went back onto Plenty of Fish and the usual happened where I sent a fair few messages to women and predictably: I didn't receive any replies. Then, rather surprisingly, someone I'd not sent a message to, actually sent me an email first.

We appeared to have a lot in common and exchanged several emails back and forth, until I sent her one asking if she'd like to go for a drink and they just stopped. I found this a bit odd so I sent her another message a week later. I wouldn't normally do that as I'd usually take the hint and move on, however, I thought that she seemed very cool. The tactic actually bore fruit, and she responded and apologised for not replying, and said she would like to go for a drink.

We met up in Brighton and got way too tipsy for a school night and I thought that we'd got on really well. She was a few years younger than me and very good company. I texted her the next day and asked her if she wanted to go out again and she said she would, which I was very positive about and we agreed to meet up again the following Friday. I suggested we go out for dinner, and with her being vegetarian, I did some research and found a really great restaurant for us to go to in the South Lanes.

However, when I sent her a text the next day to ask her if she fancied the restaurant I'd chosen, I was rather disappointingly sent the below:

"Hmm, would love to eat out but can't really afford to, sorry. I'm not sure I can afford dating at all, really. I kind of spent my month's 'socialising' budget the other night! It's a bit pathetic. Also, I've been giving it some thought, and while I really liked meeting you and thought we got on well, you're great company, I don't think I feel like there was a romantic spark there, to be honest...so do you mind if we leave it for now?"

I guess her beer goggles must have worn off.