Feb 5

First note of the day (early - after I woke up at 4:30 in the morning and did some other stuff - like work - sigh) was to a woman on Match.com who showed up in my daily matches. 53 - but another one who wants someone who makes substantial money. Sigh. I think, I am pretty sure, that I have written her before. She lives south of me and seemed interesting - when I say this, what do I mean? I mean that her profile wasn't empty - or didn't have just a few adjectives describing herself - or wasn't a diatribe about what she didn't want - she seemed to have thought about what she was writing and did a good job of piquing my interest. She didn't write back last time, so I am guessing she won't write back this time. Match deletes messages after 30 days automatically. This is a mixed blessing - good because one doesn't have to do much mailbox maintenance - bad because of situations like this, where I think I have written someone but Match doesn't remember that I did...

Second note - match.com - a woman who is 45 and lives less than 50 miles away - and is looking for someone in my age range! (For some reason, I have been thinking that I am 52 - oh, right, because I am - soon to be 53 though. Hmmm) She is letting her pictures do the talking - many posted and not much verbiage - no profile text, no headline text and barely any of the other stuff filled out. This makes me a bit wary that she may not be real. Or just not interested in writing. Hmm.

Third Note - match.com - A new to me woman appeared in my match mail and after sitting on her (not literally - I mean, I had her profile open in a tab) for a day or two, I decided to write. She is 53 - one warning sign - she is "Currently Separated" which is one reason it took me so long to send a message. She lives relatively close by. Her profile was excellently written, full of thoughtful self-observation. And she seemed like a realistic optimist. Actually, looking through her pictures, I think I might have actually written her before. Sigh.

Two other items of note. One - a woman actually wrote me from Match.com: 60 and living less than 50 miles away. Not much there in terms of profile verbiage, but I will certainly write back - actually soon after I post this note.

Two - I had a nice phone call with one of the women with whom I am corresponding. This is noteworthy for a couple of reasons. First, on my part, I don't usually enjoy phone calls. Partly because of the reception (or lack there of) in my house. Partly because if my mom is awake, it confuses her when I talk on the phone. Second, because some people are not as ready to talk on the phone for whatever reason. They keep their phone number a secret for as long as they possibly can, only giving it out when a meeting in person is imminent. I understand there concerns in an academic way as I have not yet had to deal with anyone who has been the least little bit stalkery.

Feb 4

First note was to a woman on match. She is 44 and lives within 100 miles. I just realized that she had put an income desire in her profile. So, I don't expect a note back from her. (She wrote back...)

Second note to another woman on match. 38, I live outside her distance preference and am outside of her age preference - she only wants to go up to 45. Why did I write her? Because she seemed interesting. Doubt I will hear back.

Oh, another reason I wrote - Match's 6 month guarantee - I need to write at least 5 people each month in order to qualify for a second six months free if I haven't found a relationship by the end of the first 6 months. Kind of a weird thing to be striving for. Then again, I am parsimonious and like to get my money's worth.

Third note - to an OKC person - 82% match - 24% friend - 0% enemy - lives less than 40 miles away and seemed like someone I would like to know. Sadly, her top age is 44, so I don't think I will hear back from her.

Feb 1

I got on OKC and checked out some profiles. I saw a few that piqued my interest, so I decided I would check them out a little more after I was a little more awake. I like to check profiles twice before I write - just because. I had forgotten that OKC likes to do this thing at the beginning of each month - they change one's search filters to "located anywhere" "Online Now" and some random age setting of their own devising. So it turns out that the first one I liked turned out to live in CA. Now one of my pet peeves about OKC is that they don't automatically do reverse matching - in other words, they don't check to see if I happen to match some of their criteria for who they are looking for. This is good, because I can write to whomever I desire. It is bad, because, sadly, most people I am interested in, aren't looking for me.

This particular woman lived in CA and was looking for some one "near me." But I wrote her anyway. Oh, a little more about her - she was 34 but was looking for people 24-54, so I fit that criterion. And I fit the others as well, except for "near me" bit. OKC says that she replies selectively (not very selectively). She also rated 68% match, 73% Friend and 24% Enemy.

I also wrote to another woman whose match rating was 77% match, 79% friend and 4%. She lived a bit nearer - but probably not near enough to entertain the thought of dating. Three hour drive one way is a longish way unless people are really, really motivated. The thing that made me think that she might not mind that much, is that she said she likes meeting new people. We shall see if anything comes of this message.

So, two messages written February first, despite a really, really full day at work. Yippee!