A new award

Well, first of all, you'll be pleased to know that so far I've resisted the temptation of the 'honey trap', and not parted with any more cash in my quest to find the man of my dreams!

I did get as far as taking my card out of my purse, and even getting as far as typing in my discount code. Shame on the 'Upper Crust' site... they surely know that 99.9% of girls can't resist a bargain, and with our occasional mixed up logic, only see the first part of 'Save 10%'... completely missing the fact what they should be saying is *SPEND* 90%.

But I'm made of stronger stuff (or more to the point, I've realised the 90% could be used on a pair of shoes that are almost guaranteed to last longer than *any* of my Potentials ever have).

Plus... do I really want to spend another night with an unsuitable guy!

The Big 40 was tonight... and could well go down as yet another one of those comedy dates that's worthy of an award. The award in this case being 'Date most likely to frustrate the hell out of you for *so* many different reasons'.

Why?

Reason 1 - he was late. Now, I know he was coming over from Bristol, but still, how hard is it to plan what time you need to set off if you have to be in a certain place at a certain time?? He did text to say he was going to be 10 minutes late (but by then I was in the middle of getting ready, and in my usual style I didn't see his text). But he was more than 10 minutes late.

Why?

Reason 2 - he got lost. I get lost *all* the time, but armed with the knowledge I find A to B a little difficult (without meandering past C, D and sometimes even Q), I prepare myself. If that means a series of Post It's on the steering wheel, or a convoluted set of instructions in my head I do it. And seriously, my area is so well signposted they even have it in two different languages! At least he had the balls to call to say he was lost, so I could give him directions!

But in the spirit of dating I *try* not to judge too early on, so cast aside his early incompetence... maybe he was nervous, and so hadn't really thought the journey through! And hey, he had made the effort to meet, so be nice!

Two blips so far... but on with the date. He was actually a fairly interesting guy, and we had a fair bit in common (apart from his punctuality and sense of direction). After our coffee we decided to go for some tapas...

Here comes Reason 3 - I seriously defy anyone to pour over a tapas menu and struggle to choose food. This Guy initially said the only thing he wasn't keen on was anchovies (fair enough... I struggle to get enthralled by them). What he meant was, he wasn't keen on most seafood, red meat, vegetables, spices... oh and garlic. Can you see how the choices were starting to be more and more limited by the minute?

So, after ordering some bread and olives (not the stuffed ones though... you can't be too sure what's stuffed inside them you know), we carried on with the date.

It was still going *fairly* well (although I did make a mental note he was never going to be the best person to send out for a takeaway in a strange town), until all of a sudden he started blinking furiously and complaining about the light.

The guy was getting a migraine!

Christ almighty (and Reason 4)... a guy complaining of a headache, this early on in a relationship. Not a good sign! At this point I suggested we get the bill, and he toddle off home. One part of me was concerned he was struggling to see, and that combined with his poor sense of direction could well have him driving around in circles until the early hours. Another part of me is thinking this must *surely* be a standard get out clause for a bad date, so a least I could put him out of his misery by calling it a night!!

So we said our goodbyes... all the time he was proclaiming how embarrassed he was, and reassuring me he did want to see me again. Strangely by this point my mind was wandering to thoughts of The Triathlete's washboard stomach :/

Life certainly didn't begin at 40 for me!

So I have a bit of a dilemma now... shoes or Potentials??