I don't know what this means.

I'm supposed to meet a guy for supper and conversation tonight. The operative word is "supposed" because, the more I think about this, the more uncomfortable I get. Yes, this is another dating service arranged meeting. But the problem with this is that I have no information on this guy.

Usually, I get a sheet of paper with basic information on the guy who is going to call me or who I will try to call. This time, nothing. He called me out of the blue on Friday night, after 9:00 p.m. When the phone rings after 9, it's not good news. I didn't want to talk to him as I was playing WOW and I felt uncomfortable without basic information. Maybe it would come on Saturday.

It hasn't. We chatted on Saturday and made arrangements to meet for supper tonight. But he said something that has me puzzling to the point that I need to get it straight in my head. He said he's looking for a "dominant woman". I don't know what that means. The more I think about it, the more unsettling it becomes. I have to admit my first image was of a woman wearing leather and carrying a whip but I hope that's not what's meant. Does it mean the woman makes all the household decisions? I'm not interested in that either. He said he doesn't cook, that he eats all his meals out. As I was making cookies, oatmeal blueberry muffins and butternut squash soup over the weekend, I thought how having someone who doesn't cook isn't a good thing for me.

I just want an equal. From my POV, there is an ebb and flow to a relationship. Some days or even periods of life, you need or want your partner to be more dominant in the relationship. Some days or periods of life, it's you who is dominant. For me, the bottom line is that he treat me as an equal. There is an aphorism that says, "Don't walk ahead of me. I may not follow. Don't walk behind me. I may not lead. Just walk beside me and be my friend." That's what I want.

The more I think about this, the more uncomfortable with meeting this guy I become. Why waste an evening with someone I know, going in, that I'm not going to find attractive? I don't have much money to be spending on dining out to begin with. So, I taped his phone number to the bathroom mirror. I will call him when I get home from work and ask. We do each other no favors by sitting through a meal where there is nothing that can come of it.

And then I have to go online and tell the service this is the last one. This would be number 16 over 3 and a quarter years. Time for me to cut the strings and trust the karma of the world to finding a companion. I'm thinking some TV psychic has a better chance than this service does.

Beverage: English Breakfast tea

Deb

Ah'll Be Bock! (heavy sigh)

So it's raining again. S'posed to rain pretty much all day with heavier storms tonight. I've got that date tonight. This theatre is one of those where you get a meal with the movie. We're going to see "Public Enemies". There's a 6:15 and a 7:00 p.m. show. It depends upon when I finally arrive which show we'll attend. I'm the one who has to drive the farthest but, living in Chicagoland, distance is relative.
I heard a news report that says this weather pattern, with the copious amounts of rain, is "stagnant". According to the meterologist interviewed, the jet stream has been in this pattern since October of 2007. We had the 25th wettest spring on record this year. July is predicted to be cooler than normal.
Whatever. I just know I started coughing again over the weekend. I'm sure the allergies are acting up again, just when I got dried out from the episode at the end of spring.
So I wonder if it was "this bad" with my ancestors. Did they have these allergy problems or is this a function of our modern lifestyle?
I try to be optimistic. Rain fills the reservoirs from which we get our drinking water. I know of the water battles looming in the west and southwest and I'm grateful I live in the midwest even if the weeds are taking over this year.
Yet I can tell my body is fighting allergens again, yet, still. I'm tired. I'm hoping I don't fall asleep in the movie tonight. Boy would that look great. First date and I'm zonked out.
My advice? Buy stock in Ricola. I'm almost out of cough drops so will have to get more this weekend.

Beverage: Huckleberry tea

Deb

Happy July 4th a day late.

I've spend a leisurely weekend just lounging. I have to head to Iowa in the next few hours. I will be installing equipment on a road construction job in Fort Madison tomorrow morning at 10. I'm going to see my mother. It won't be a long visit. I'm fairly certain I need to be on the road early tomorrow morning to be where I have to be on time. The weather is supposed to be nice. Rain on Tuesday so I think just taking off the windows is all I can do.

It rained most of yesterday. For some reason, it was far noisier around the neighborhood this year than in past years. Fireworks, beyond sprinklers, small firecrackers and smoke bombs, are prohibited in Illinois. Certainly what went off several times over the last 3 days has not been of the "small" variety. I was tempted, when one blast shook my house, to call the constabulary, but I know they had their hands full last night.

It got really foggy last night late, the kind of fog I love to walk in. When I went to bed the fog had blurred the house lights across the street. I almost expected to see Humphrey Bogart, trench coat and cigarette, leaning against the street light north of my house, as he waited for Lauren Bacall or Sydney Greenstreet.

Shall I go see "Public Enemies", the new Johnny Depp movie about John Dillinger? I have a date Wednesday night. He has suggested dinner and a movie. I'm not a rabid Depp fan. I would probably go to see the locations around Chicagoland which were used for filming. I heard the ending is not how Dillinger died. As it's something of shrine in Chicago, perhaps I should go so I can say, "That's not what happened". Some day, I should take the "Gangster Tour".

I was invited to the neighbor's cook-out last night, but the thought of jockeying for protection under a tent from the steady rain was not my cuppa. I made cheeseburgers and cottage fries and had myself a Belhaven Scottish Ale. Perfect holiday fare.

Time to move on to other things. I don't like leaving a messy house. Pam is coming over to feed the girls tonight and tomorrow morning. I'll be back in the late afternoon. I need to clean litter boxes, damp mop floors and pack a bit for myself. Then I head over to the office to pick up the equipment and I'm good to go. Gas here is $2.79/gallon. What will it be in Iowa, I wonder?

Beverage: Orange juice

Deb