My 40th post! 1/31/09

I figured that it was time to check in and post an update of what is going on. Upon signing in I noticed that there were 39 posts, and that will become 40 once this posting is published. In one way there is a lot going on and in another there isn't very much going on.

Nothing at work is really changing. I don't know what is going on with the singles scene here as that I don't have a reason to be out there among them these days. I can't tell you who is playing at the Maverick on Thursday nights as that I haven't been over there for three weeks. The weather did change some as that we had a winter storm blow thru here about nine days ago and the Catalinas still have snow on them as I saw when I looked toward them from the driveway this morning. I haven't bought any new DVDs lately, but I am reading some good books, and I intend to devote a post in the near future to discuss what I've been reading.

On the personal front though, things have changed. Lynette was down here for the weekend and she brought her son down here so that I could meet him. We've also chatted quite a bit via email and via cellphone, and I had probably better start paying attention to what's left in my balance of minutes that have rolled over. Our relationship is serious, and my next series of phone calls to my family will bring them the news that I have met someone.

In a way I can't believe that I am where I am right now. I've jokingly told Mark that when my marriage broke up in October of 1998 which set in motion the chain of events that led to a relocation to Arizona a few months later, that I somehow slipped into the wrong universe and I was now living in some parallel universe like you see sometimes on Star Trek except that the parallel universe I'm in now had some new kind of normal. And the Dave Mosier who lived in this universe somehow took my place back in that other universe and is still living in San Jose.

And so for ten years I've dealt with this universe here in Tucson, and now I'm in some other new universe but this time this universe still has me in Tucson and this time I have a girlfriend named Lynette in this universe while in the old Tucson universe my counterpart goes to the Maverick every Thursday night for dance lessons. That's fine I guess, as that I still help with the design of circuit cards in this universe but I don't yet know if this universe is going to give me same raise that I got in the last universe this year.

All joking aside about universes, (and don't get me started on relativity), I have to admit that the current set of "problems" that I now have sure beat the fire and brimstone out of the last set of problems that I had. It's a time in my life where I can say that life is good, and I don't mind publicly admitting that Lynette is turning out to be something else. I'm thinking that we had the First Date to End All First Dates. The question is now, how do we get to where we think we're supposed to be? The bridge wasn't out this time and so there's some uncharted territory down the road ahead.

* * * * * * *

While watching something on the tube last week, I noticed that when it came time for the commercials, that the volume of the commercials was louder, and the first commercial was for a hearing aid.

Listening to too many of those hearing aid commercials just might put you in the position to where you will actually need one.

* * * * * * *

And speaking of TV, is it just me, or is something wrong at the History Channel? When I first went satellite some seven years ago that was my favorite channel. The first show that I watched here via satellite was a two hour documentary on the Soviet space program and it was fascinating. I've since seen documentaries on the history of prohibition, hillbillies, Al Capone, and other good shows.

As of late they seem to be on this fixation for six hours straight of something like "Ax Men" or "Ice Road Truckers" or "Gangland". Do we really need six straight hours of each of these shows? Why not mix them up?

Or better yet, get rid of them entirely so that we can have more airtime for shows about history or for "Modern Marvels".

* * * * * * *

Time now for the evening victuals. Take care, and don't forget to pet a dog or a cat.

My First Date with Lynette! or, Does eHarmony really work?

I can now make this public.

I just wrapped up my first date with Lynette, who I met over eHarmony. We went thru the "guided communication" steps, sending each other prewritten questions, then those we wrote ourselves, then open communication thru their system.

It quickly went to private email, and then to the phone. The "buildup" to this was phenomenal. It was scary. And I hadn't been this nervous on a first date for years. I mean years! It was like being 16 all over again.

In a situation like this, that is the "buildup", well it seemed that no matter how you sliced it we were compatible. She didn't waste any time into getting this into an honest and open dialog. From the anonymity of the keyboard I opened up. And I kept wondering, is it going to be different this time?

Those were legitimate questions. In October of 2005 I was in some great dialog with this Linda in Scottsdale who I met via Match.com. She practically promised me the moon. We went out on a date, and it was like a scene from some Stephen King novel. I'm thinking, this is weird, I've been led down some long winding road to get to a dead end, and why did I let this happen?

Then in early 2006 there was this Sheri from Dewey, Arizona, also from Match. She got a little brazen in our first phone call and I loved it. I ran down the battery in my cordless phone talking to her. She said all the things I wanted to hear. I could hardly wait to meet.

However, I got suspicious on that one. I ran a check of the online court records and learned that she had several convictions for passing bad checks. She was also the target of several civil actions from those bad checks. And, she was still technically married since her divorce action showed up and the decree didn't look like it was going to be final anytime soon. She quickly got an email from me stating that I had panicked, wasn't ready, and asked that she not contact me further.

That wasn't a lie. I was not ready for someone like her! And there was a sense of panic as that I was on the brink of arranging a meeting for that one.

In early 2007, and again from Match, there was Mary from El Paso, or "Little Miss El Paso" as my friend Cheryl called her. The emails were getting on the steamy side. I was about to commit to a trip to El Paso to meet her. Then she asked me if there was such a thing as "love at first sight" via computer. I related to her that I wasn't sure that there was such a thing, that instead I would have to meet the person. I also offhandedly remarked what my friends would think about my going to El Paso to meet someone.

Well, Little Miss El Paso really lit into me on that one. I got this angry tirade from her about pulling back, and that it didn't matter what my friends thought, we were going to meet and it was going to happen with us.

What Little Miss El Paso doesn't know is just how highly I think of my friends. Nobody, but nobody criticizes my friends! Nobody! I happen to think that my closest friends are all better people than I am, each and every one of them. The way I see it, is that my friends are very important to me, and I just won't stand for anyone criticizing them.

Anyway, with those three examples, I found myself down that road again. That road that you're not sure if the bridge was out the last time has the bridge in it now. Where the advertising looks promising, the scenery is fantastic.......but will the bridge that's up ahead be there when you need to cross it?

This time the bridge was there. I found out that Lynette and I had way more in common than I could possibly have imagined. We found oursevles as instant soulmates! And so, after a first date that will be cherished as a prized memory for the rest of my life, we immediately agreed on a mutually exclusive relationship.

This is better than anything I have ever experienced. I am quite pleased to be making this public!

We agreed on how things would be, how we would resolve conflicts, things we would like to do this year, and places we would go. There are some initial challenges with scheduling as that she is a nurse and I am an engineer. She lives in Queen Creek and I live in Tucson. But we'll work around these things.

It really feels good to be "off the market". It really does.

Monday, the 18th of January, of 2010

There may finally be something happening on the eHarmony front. I can't go into details lest I jinx this.

I was in email correspondence over the holidaze with someone else from another site, and we met. Unfortunately in that instance it was obvious within five minutes that the chemistry wasn't going to be there.

With the latest......well........I guess we'll be finding out just how well eHarmony's matching system really works.

* * * * * * *

We are in for some clouds, overcast, and rain this week. We had light rain this morning. The sun did come out of the clouds about an hour ago, but but we're back to overcast.

It's one of those days where it's great to be out on the back patio with a cup of Joe.

* * * * * * *

We found out last week just *how* well things were going at work. Our project is in very fine shape. The customer is very pleased with us, and now we're moving into the next phase of development.

I'm not sure, but I might be in Rhode Island this coming April for a few days to witness the first tests of our circuit cards. At least the weather there should be better by then.

I can't say much about work, but I think it's safe to say that things are going well there.

* * * * * * *

Uncle Tony continues to make phenomenal progress. I sometimes wonder if he has any idea about how well he's regarded within our family. It's too bad that we're scattered all over the U.S., but each of us went to where the opportunities were there for us. That's one reason why I'm in Arizona.

I really should get out to Iowa when his recovery is complete.

* * * * * * *

Around Tucson, I haven't been all that active in the singles groups. I did accept an invitation over a week ago to attend a happy hour that one of the local "Meetup" groups did.

The people there were friendly, and I ran into a few folks I hadn't seen in a long time. One of them is someone who I'll identify only as "Snowbird Tom". I've known him for several years.
There were also some others that I know from TSP: Tucson Single Professionals.

As for another singles group, I did attend some happy hours from the Tucson Desert Singles before the holidaze. There's been some turnover of membership, which is good for that group. Just a few years ago there were some real bad apples hanging out there. I stopped going because of that.

Don't get me wrong, I've got some good friends that I made thru them. My housesitter is one of them. Former girlfriend Peggy is another. My housesitter, I, and a few others like to kick around the idea of going out dancing at the Maverick. Thing of it is, with my current eHarmony situation, I don't feel much like going out nor do I feel like attending happy hours.

I guess as far as the singles clubs go, they may be thinking that I must have fallen off the face of the earth.....again.

* * * * * * *

And so, I'm now alone in my thoughts of "what might be". I've been down this road before. I keep going down this road in the hope that this will be my last trip down this road.

To steal that line from that one Eagles song, "Put me on the highway......show me the sign.....take it.....to the limit......one more time".

* * * * * * *

Live long, and prosper.

Made it Thru Another One

Well this is my last day "off" for the Christmas break and I am spending it in a quiet afternoon at home. I have some reading that I want to do, but I also have to remove photos received in the 2008 batch of Christmas cards that are being held up on the fridge by fridge magnets, and replace them with those that I received over the past few weeks.

And speaking of Christmas cards, I finally got them all done. Those in the first half of the alphabet got theirs before I left on my trip, and those in the last half got theirs sent out yesterday. I started thinking, was it fair to make those in the last half wait a few more weeks?

I think the next time around, I'm going to start with the Z's (yes, I've got relatives whose last name begin with Z) and fill out and send theirs first.....and work my way backward to the A's. Maybe the year after that, I'll do something different.

It is tempting to fill out cards beginning next month, that is, write notes, sign the cards, address the envelopes......but wait until the annual letter is printed before I send them out. That way, all I have to do is print the letter out, stuff them inside the cards that have already been signed, and then chuck the whole shebang into the mailbox.

* * * * * * *

We are so far having a beautiful January here in Tucson. I think we'll hit 70F for a high this afternoon. The sun's out and the sky is clear. It has to be one of those days where the dogs are smiling and the cats are purring.

* * * * * * *

We are going to be in for an interesting year. There are midterm elections and a public that is highly dissatisfied with Congress. Our biggest problem is that if we do replace a large chunk of Congress, that what we're really doing is trading in one set of crooks for another.

I will vote this year, but I see myself as voting strictly anti-incumbent, all the way down to the line. The only incumbent I'll be voting for is a state representative who actually took the time to reply to an email I sent him some time ago. He didn't agree with me that we need to have a state law that bans the use of cellphones while driving, but he told me why. He said that it was a matter of personal responsibility and that he wasn't going to break that campaign promise not to have the state interfere with personal responsibility.

I appreciated that answer, even though I still think we need that law. He's the only elected representative who is doing what he said he would do in his campaign.

His name is Frank Antenori, and it's likely I'll have his yard sign on my front "lawn" (I have rocks, not grass) come October.