Busy-Blond-Mom. The blond-mom emailed last night to say that she was going out of town this weekend and that she'd call/email when she got back to town. That solves the weekend problem but I'd started to look forward to a 2nd date so I'm disappointed that it's delayed further.

 
Being Picky. While randomly clicking through links this morning I came across this guy's blog. On one post he summarizes his experiences at five fast-date events. Here's his numbers...

Hurrydates: 5
Women met: 125
Women I picked: 18
Women I matched with: 14
Women I contacted: 7
First dates: 4
Cost of first dates: Approx. $100
Women I called for second date: 0

So, to my friends who tell me I'm too picky please note that these are the stats of someone who truly is picky. Compare these numbers to mine. I had 4 first dates from my one fast-date event and asked 3 of those women for second dates.

That said, my date with Jane last night was only so-so which was surprising because it seemed liked we'd both been looking forward to seeing each other. Maybe was still jet-lagged or her dinner wasn't sitting well but something was a little off. But we'll probably get together later this week and I'll see which direction things turn.

 
Accoring to the CaliforniaPatriot, the state of California is considering a plan where wealthy students would be charged higher tuition than non-wealthy students. The article says the cut-off is family income of $90,000. At first I thought this was silly but don't we already do this to some extent? There are lots of scholarships that are need-based. "Wealthy" students don't get a shot at those. In other words, wealthy students already pay more tuition than "non-wealthy" students.


Also, if a students parents are making more than $90,000 per year, aren't they paying more in taxes than students of families making $18,000 per year? And aren't those taxes used to fund the university system? Again, wealthy students already pay more than non-wealthy students.


Finally, how about giving the wealthy students something in return for the extra tuition? Maybe give the wealthy students priority registration. Shouldn't they get something for the extra 3 grand?

 
Light to nonexistent posting this week. I'm in South Carolina for the week for a family vacation and to attend a cousin's wedding. Highlights of the past few days include a 30 mile ride to the top of Mt. Mitchell in North Carolina on my bicycle---27 of which were uphill with switchbacks. I flew up the mountain with an average speed of 9.5 miles per hour. The views were great and the ride was rewarding, but it was painful enough that I never want to do it again. Here is the climbing chart from the annual "Assault on Mt. Mitchell". I started in Marion, NC. The 30 mile ride back to Marion was great except that I got rained on pretty hard for the last four miles.

 
Bad Start. Good Ending. My date with the blond-mom got off to a bad start. We'd decided to meet at a restaurant. I waited inside but she waited outside. After it was 5 minutes past our agreed upon meeting time I walked outside and was standing about 4 feet away from her and didn't recognize her. That's one of the bad things about the fast-date process. You see/talk to someone in a bar for 3 minutes and then weeks can go by before you see the person again leading to failure to recognize each other.

My initial reaction was that she didn't look like I'd remembered. It took about 5 to 10 minutes for my memory of her to warp back to reality. Despite the bad start the dinner went really well. She's divorced with two small children and she asked some questions about whether I'd dated anyone with kids before. She politely asked why I thought I'd never gotten married. I think I answered these types of questions to her satisfaction. By the end of the dinner I think there was a mutual attraction and we talked about getting together when I get back from my trip (I leave Friday for a 10-day trip). Unlike my dinner date with Madison, I left with the impression that we're both interested in seeing each other again. Time will tell.

 
Dinner Date Set. The blond-mom called Monday morning saying that she'd just gotten my message from last Friday. We're meeting tomorrow night for a dinner.

 
Not much to report this weekend. I spoke with Abby Saturday and there was some tension on the line but I'm not sure of why. Maybe she was having a bad day. I received an email from the blond-mom last week saying that she was free on Sunday or Tuesday and gave me her work number. I called that number Friday and left a message saying Tuesday was better for me and suggested meeting for dinner in her neighborhood. I haven't heard back from her. Strange.

 
Burning the Candle. Jane and I had a nice date last night. We ate italian food and then went to a small bar that has a courtyard and a great acoustic guitar player/singer. It was one of those nights when the temperature is perfect. I could stayed there all night but since Jane had to leave town the next day I took her home at a respectable hour. After we got back to her place we sat on the couch together and talked for a few minutes. I liked that this time Jane was comfortable enough to simply lean her head on my shoulder which made "the move" much easier for this "move challenged" guy. Even after years of dating I still have not developed a good couch move. Thank God that's not a deal breaker for most women.

 
Back in the Saddle. For some reason I'm still feeling a little down about the Madison date being a dead end. I'd been on such a winning streak lately that it sucked to have it end with someone I found myself so attracted to. But, the best thing to do is forget about her and move forward. And I got a good start on that this morning by way of an email from Jane. We've been emailing every few days or so and she wrote to say that she's back in town for two days and asked if I wanted to get together tonight. That sounds like just the thing I need. I called and made plans to see her tonight and then she leaves tomorrow for the second half of a month-long trip.

 
Life is Cruel. I had dinner tonight with Madison from fast-date. She didn't make a big impression on me at fast-date, but tonight I was instantly attracted to her. We ate a leisurely dinner at an outdoor cafe and covered a wide range of topics for two hours. Everything was great except....I don't think she felt the same. The first hour I thought there was some interest but during the second hour it seemed to dissapate. I just didn't sense any real "dating" interest from her and therefore I didn't ask if she wanted to do anything after dinner. I walked her to her car and told her I'd like to see her again. She said to give her a call but there was something in the way she said it that left me flat and not very optimistic.

Update. I called Madison Wednesday afternoon and asked her out for this weekend. She said she was busy this weekend and listed what she already had planned. Her demeanor left no doubt that she's not interested in another date so sadly, it's time to admit defeat on this one and move on.

 
Other holiday reading...
A great article in Policy Review called Al Qaeda’s Fantasy Ideology which I found via USS Clueless.

and

WHY DEMOCRACY MUST REMAIN AMERICA'S GOAL ABROAD. The Ungreat Washed. by Robert Kagan in The New Republic. Unfortunately, this latter one requires a subscription but it's articles like this that make a subscription to TNR worth every penny.

 
Bringing Down the House. Over the weekend I read this book about a group of MIT students that claim to have won millions of dollars in casinos by counting cards in BlackJack. The book is entertaining. However, I'm fairly knowlegable about card counting and I simply don't believe the dollar amounts that the author claims were won.

Casinos keep very detailed records as to how much a particular table won or lost on a given shift. The amounts the book claims were won would have set off red flags at the casinos almost immediately. It would have been easy for the casinos to study their videos to see who was at a specific table on a day when that table's loss rate was way out of line from a statistical basis. Thus, at these dollar levels, the MIT students wouldn't have gotten away with their approach for this long.

A couple of years ago I read a book on counting cards and taught myself the hi-lo method. It's fairly simple, when a 3, 4, 5, or 6 card comes out you add +1 in your head and when a 10, J, Q, K comes out you subtract 1 from your count. The higher the count, the more advantageous the player's position. The last time I was in Vegas I was even able to keep a side count of how many aces had come out. I never intended to play enough or bet high enough to make card counting a profitable venture, I just wanted to see whether I could do it...sort of an intellectual challenge.

My other complaint with the book is that these MIT people seemed to find a lot of casinos dealing deep into 6-deck shoes. I haven't found that to be the case. It seemed like many dealers cut off 2-full decks which pretty much wipes out the advantages of counting (and that's why they do it).

I believe the MIT people won money, but I don't believe they won millions as claimed in the book. That said, I still recommend the book for light summer reading.

 
A Terrible Fourth. I'm having an awful holiday weekend. Last Wednesday I started feeling weak and my muscles started to ache. By Thursday I was aching in my legs, my back, my neck and the worst was my throat. I wasn't any better Friday morning so I cancelled my out-of-town trip and decided to just hang-out on my deck and read and wait to feel better.

After 30 minutes on the deck I bent down to pick up a book and a sliver of wood went right under the fingernail on my middle finger-right hand. I spent the next few hours trying to remove it. I was able to get about half of it out but then it broke and the remaining half was lodged deep under the nail. It didn't hurt so my as annoy. I tried using a knife to cut away the nail around the splinter but since I'm right handed and had to work the knife with my left hand, I mostly just cut my finger up.

This morning I went to a doc-in-a-box place. Although I was the second customer of the day I didn't get treated until 45 minutes after I'd arrived. In case you ever get a splinter this deep under the nail, here's what they do....

First the doctor gave me a not-too-painful shot at the bottom of my finger. Over the next 10 minutes my finger went completely numb. Then the doctor shoved a pair of tweesers up under my fingernail and yanked out the splinter. It was amazing to watch because my brain was saying "wow, that should really hurt" and yet it doesn't. I'm wondering how much my finger will hurt later today when the numbing agent wears off.

I still have a sore throat and a slight fever so I didn't bother calling Abby to take her up on her offer to go to the lake house. I think I need another day of sitting on the deck and reading. In the future, I'll be more careful on my splintery deck. And I'm not alone. I'm taking care of a dog for the next two weeks.

 
Mondays Aren't so Bad. Monday night I talked to my 3rd match. We'll call her Madison. She's low 30s, teaches kindergarten at a private school, owns an old house, native of the city, rarely goes to bed before midnight, used to work in the business world but burned out on it, loves her current job.

I'm getting good at talking to strangers. Again, conversation flowed well and we talked for close to an hour. Given the busy holiday weekend, we both agreed that it would better to get together next week than to try to squeeze something in this week. So, we're meeting Monday night in a historic area of the city that has numerous restaurant choices within easy walking distance. I hope we recognize each other.

 
In a comment to the previous post, Julie S. wrote

Did you ever think that maybe Abby is playing with you like you play with all these unsuspecting woman. I am proud of Abby for stringing you along. Their is justice in the world as it appears that you really like this Abby girl, yet she seems to just tolerate you. Hopefully she will string you along just enough to eventually break your heart. Hopefully you will be dumb enough to dump all your other prospects and then you will be left with no one. Go Abby!

This is an interesting question. I don't sense that Abby is "playing" with me. What does she have to gain from doing so? She doesn't need my money or my time as she has her own money and very little free time.
As to the issue of my feelings for Abby. Clearly I like her, but I don't think we'd be a good long-term match. For one thing, we lack sexual chemistry. But for some reason I really like sleeping next to her, having my arm around her and waking up with her---more so than with anyone I've ever dated. Confusing.

I don't think my heart would break if Abby started dating someone. Although there'd likely be some envy or jealousy on my part, I'd like to think that I'd also be happy for her.

if I was someone else and was reading what's on this blog I'd think "why doesn't this idiot just ask the girl what's going on." I think the reason that I haven't pushed the issue is that I can't think of an outcome that I'm comfortable with. If the answer was "no" I'd be disappointed and it could make things awkward between us. But I'm not sure that I'm ready to hear "yes" and to follow through with what that would mean. Forcing the issue would likely make it difficult to continue seeing each other on this commitment-free, sexless, semi-regular basis. I guess what it comes down to is that fairness dictates that I figure out my own feelings before I push her to state hers. Eventually something will happen. Eventually.