Experience #1: 'Speed Dating' - COMPLETE!

It doesn't seem barely two days ago I signed up for speed dating and before I knew it, Wednesday 27th January soon came around and so did the butterflies and nerves!

I got home from work, attempted to make a chicken sandwich (which I struggled to finish) For anyone that doesn't know me, food is normally no obstacle. (I'm not an overweight guy, but I'm sure this will all catch up with more sooner than later!) Registration for the event started at 7.30PM sharp, and it was already 7.10PM as I checked my watch every minute, just in case time was going to skip a few extra minutes just to keep me on my toes.

I'm walking distance from the train station and got a taxi from there. It gave me time to get my thoughts together, mainly those filled with nerves and attempting to remind myself of the positives - that either way it was all about the experience!

The taxi journey (which normally takes no longer than 5mins) seemed to take an eternity! Every traffic light purposely halting on red just to make me sweat it out a little bit longer. I arrived at the venue - a nightclub, which I've been to a number of times, so I already knew the layout which was a bonus! I walked upstairs, expecting to see red balloons with their company logo all over them attached to chairs and some form of cheesy American greeting, but instead it was..pretty basic!

A nice welcome greeting from both of the hosts, I received my sticker with my name and number '6' written on it, then it was time to kill 20mins at the bar before the 'Speed Dating' began at 8PM. I'm not being big headed here, but I like to think I can speak to most people without the harm of being embarrsed or feeling like an idiot - but the other guys there didn't appreciate me trying to make small talk at the bar with them, when they wanted to clearly point out that they were there solely for the Women. I was too, but I was trying to break the ice a bit. After all, we were all there for the same reason!

8PM soon rolled around, and after the Women were seated the Men were told to sit at the same table number as what's on your stickers. I was opposite my first date, now the age group for tonight's event was 23-39, I'm 27. Majority of the people there were late 20's early 30's so an ideal mix! I managed to feel at ease almost instantly and 3mins passed so quick, I barely had time to make a note of the ladies number and if I wanted to tick 'yes' 'no' or 'friend' before being moved on to the next date.

The night was going well, I was at ease, took a break off the beer and went with water. First impressions are everything, especially at these events - so cutting down the beer intake was essential. As you 'date' 13 Women in an hour! That's some going! It wasn't many dates before I came across a Woman I was instantly intrigued about. We didn't even wait for the buzzer to go before we started chatting and 3mins barely seemed like 3secs. We discussed music, she loves Paramore, 30 Seconds To Mars & Frank Turner for starters! Now that's quite a mix straight away and took a sip of water as I didn't want her to see my chin hit the floor. She told me how she loves duvet days and just chilling out watching DVD's back to back. Now that's an ideal weekend right there!

We took a break for 15mins once we were about half way around the room. Time to get a breather and refill before facing 'Round 2'. Some of the guys were still quite nervous as we swapped stories / observations at the bar. Once we had 'dated' everyone, It was encouraged that we stayed for a while, caught up with our potential matches before heading home.

It was like being back at a high school disco. The guys one side, the ladies on the other. I was feeling quite confident after having a fun night meeting everyone and decided to seek out #8 and see if we could continue our conversation from earlier. It seemed I waited a little bit too long and she left with her mates shortly after, but did ask for my name again and scribbled something on to her scorecard.

A few of tonight's crowd remained after the hosts left and it strangly felt like we'd known each other for ages. Swapping stories, job roles and generally enjoying each others company! I got a taxi home and rather keenly clicked on my Internet browser and logged on to the dating website to update my results from the night. I clicked 'yes' for #8 and now the waiting game begins....


THURSDAY 28TH JANUARY: ( 8 P.M.)

I check my e-mail and find out that i have a 'match'. It won't tell me who, as they direct me to the weblink at the bottom of the e-mail to find out more! I immediately click the link and anxiously await for the page to load. A huge grin is on my face because #8 also ticked me as a 'yes'. This now means we can view each others profile and only our e-mail addresses are given out. I decide to e-mail her straight away, not to ask her out, but just a follow up e-mail from last night and commenting on a few topics of discussion. I click send and wonder if I'll get a reply....

FRIDAY 29TH JANUARY: (11.58 PM)

I'm out tonight with some work colleagues when my phone vibrates, I've got a new e-mail and it's not another newsletter from 'Play.com' telling me about their amazing deals on blu ray discs. Instead #8 has replied to my e-mail telling me she also had a great time, even though it was short and 3mins wasn't enough! Now the problem with Blackberry's is that you can e-mail straight from your phone. To avoid sounding like an idiot (I have had a few beers by now) I result in turning the phone off to avoid sending any awkward e-mails I might regret later and opt to wait until the morning.

SATURDAY 30TH JANUARY: (10.00AM)

After breakfast, I load up my 'hotmail' account and re-read her email. I respond with a few things I'm doing this weekend, starting with a duvet morning, watching a few films and enjoying a Saturday morning lay-in! I also ask her if she is free to meet up during the week and instead of suggesting the usual 'let's go for coffee / movie' approach, ask her if she'd like to go to a local comedy club night. There's nobody famous, but you get 3 comedians per event and I've heard great feedback from friends.

No reply yet, but I'm not going to be my usual paranoid self. If she'd like to meet then great, if not, the whole experience has been plesant!. I've experienced something I'd never do normally, and I'd def. sign up for another - but I'd leave it for a couple of months first.

January has already been a crazy filled month:

*Speed Dating,
*Tried 'Haggis' for the first time! (Not as bad as I was expecting!)
*Found not 1 but 2 suitable rooms to move in to as our current landlord has given us a months notice. A lot of stress, but after we all realised we couldn't all share a house together - finding an empty 7 bed was never going to happen, but the whole experience was an eye opener, and I'm all set to move out at the end of February.

That's all for now, Experience #2 will be revealed shortly...

"All change!"

It seemed that after a rubbish start to 2010 & with a whole load of new experiences to enjoy this year, my first experience would come earlier than expected...and not one that's on my list!!

Date: Wednesday 20th January 2010

I'm at work and my Blackberry alerts me that I've received a new text message, nothing new there, until I open the message and a whole load of chaos was about to follow. It was a mispelt text from my Landlord saying that we have one month to move out, and if we want to rent any of his other rooms we need to let him know by Saturday....SATURDAY!?!?!? Are you insane?? It's only Wednesday today! To make matters worse, I arrived home that night to the other housemates gathered in the kitchen discussing our shared problem, and a few of them didn't even receive text messages..which would explain the shocked faces around the kitchen.

That night, the whole house was crammed into the lounge. Laptops all around like we were about to start a multiplayer online game, I think we know who the target would be...bloody landlord! We discussed how we were to move forward and we began our search for 6 or 7 bedroom houses. I know, it sounds insane, but we've all got along perfectly (which is quite unusual for a house this size!) and we weren't about to let this end. So I call the letting agent and arrange a viewing for us all at a 5 bed (we could easily modify a couple of the rooms to become bedrooms.) We check the place out and as nice as it was, a couple of the bathrooms linked to 2 bedrooms which caused concern for privacy etc. So that was #1 off the list.

Since then we decided we all couldn't fit in to a 5 bed and begin a revised search on 4 beds - now the difficult bit starts. I have to become the 'bad guy' and choose which housemates I'd prefer to live with and forward text messages to the relevant 'golden ticket' winners. Lucikly those that received texts where happy with the people I chose and it looked like we had found a great 4 bed in the same area as we live now, and even closer for me to walk to work. (Which would literally take me 1 min! - Hey! everyone else has cars!!)

Date: Saturday 23rd January 2010

We've seen two 4 beds today. The first one (1 min walk from work) was a no go! The bedrooms were tiny, so another house crossed off the list. Then the letting agent mentioned another house with 4 double bedrooms - ideal for everyone, as we've been quite spoilt in our 7 bed. We could've seen this house earlier in the afternoon, but one of our housemates was quite adament that watching the Chelsea football match was priority over finding a roof over his and our heads!!! What can I say, the house was incredible! All rooms a nice size, decent bedrooms, but unfurnished. No goodies, nada!! When we all left the house with smiles on our faces, it wasn't long before reality shook them straight off our faces. After calculating council tax, utility bills, affording to buy new furniture, beds etc. this was not going to work! Especially as one couple (that have barely been in the house for a month - but they clicked with everyone instantly!) are saving up to get married and couldn't stretch their budget past what they are currently paying, which could only lead to one thing - back to the drawing board!

We then looked at each other, and one of us had to say it: "Sorry guys, but it looks like we're going to have to split up even more and start looking at 2 bed houses." We all nodded our heads, realizing the reality that faced us and after dinner, I loaded my laptop and was back searching for 2 bed house-shares that myself and 1 other housemate could afford.

After an hour of searching, I came across two that looked suitable. Once again I started to tally up the council tax, utility bills, TV licence etc. and it could be covered - but that would be no broadband, no TV, and you could pretty much cancel any gigs / concerts I was interested in going to. It seemed my path was leading me back in one direction - back to the landlord!

Now, I'd never go back to my current landlord - he's not really fit to be called a landlord for a start after all the shortcuts he has taken over the past year - and that's just those we know about! Luckily I've come across a website that specialises in advertising single rooms, and it seems there's 2 in my current street! So I might be going back in to the 7 bed environment quicker than expected, but with a whole load of new housemates. Nothing is set yet, but I have e-mailed both landlords, and hope to hear from them in the next couple of days. I will miss my current housemates terribly, they're like extended family, but at the end of the day, it's what I can afford and having to face council tax, utility bills etc. on top of my old rent (which always was included with my cost) would have to be put off for a while atleast.

So it seems Experience #1 was the shock of moving in to the real world and seeing my monthly pay get swallowed up in one go from bills etc. with no fun on the side. That's something I can't leave with...there's plenty of time for that! On the positive side, it will be a whole new experience, meeting new housemates and hopefully share more great memories over the coming months!

Experience #1 (January): "Speed Dating"

Ok, so here we are. It's almost mid-January and time to get the ball rolling! After looking up and down my screwed up piece of notebook paper that holds the bible of activities lined up for 2010 and taking the weather situation at the minute in to consideration, it seemed like a wise choice to start with an indoor activity. That said, I do feel I've just thrown myself in to something I'd thought I'd never do, which is a good thing...even if I've bricking it already!

Now, I did take a stab at online dating about a year ago. I thought I'd give it a try, nothing to lose and potentially everything to gain. So I signed up and was feeling quite positive that I'd meet someone within my first three months. (This was also the minimum sign-up period.) I would update my profile, constantly adding or modifying the information to 'jazz' my profile up, try and find a decent image to use as my main profile picture without it having that "classic myspace - raise camera up and point at myself pic." Most days I'd log on and find the usual "You have 0 new messages" image on the menu beaming at me with a cheeky grin as if they knew three months would not be long enough to find your 'soulmate'.

I began to cut down my search criteria, keeping it local and within a decent age range and actually found a few profiles that looked interesting. So I clicked on a few, added them to my 'favourites' and would read more at a later date. This routine progressed for two months, a few messages were exchanged but no dates set or lack of interest would block the way forward. Then I came across an interesting profile which belonged to user "Zoo_Girl09". Already I seemed interested, an occupation completely different to my own, we'd definately have interesting discussion topics, and we'll....she was pretty fine. Let's be honest, we do go by the picture first before we find out more!

I was liking more and more about her as my eyes continued to read her profile, so it was time to make a move and send a cheeky 'wink'. Yes, I know what you're thinking! "Could'nt you just have messaged her?" well...the 'wink' is your basic introduction. Consider it your best mate putting in a good word for you, just without the embarassment of you having to ask your best mate in the first place. So a few days passed...nothing. I then sent a message to make a more formal introduction, maybe she wasn't a 'cheeky wink' kind of girl?! Three more days passed and nothing.

It wasn't until I logged on a week after that I should've realised what was happening. It turned out my online interest of "Zoo_Girl09" would be short lived. Why? Because her account was terminted due to 'spam'. I'd not been struck by cupid's arrow, but the kick in the crouch form a bloody Computer Bot program....rejected by a damn machine! That pretty much brought me up to my three month minimum sign-up period, and when I was prompted "Would you like to renew?" I put as much force in to my finger as possible, clicking "No thanks" & thinking that was enough for me!

Now that might be a negative way to look at online dating, it doesn't work for everyone, there are successful stories out there and if you have I'm happy for you...But howe many 'bots' turned you down before you found your partner?? Exactly!

Now I've heard 'Speed Dating' is meant to be a great laugh. (As long as you're not the one being laughed at!) I've searched the web and looked for the next 'event' in my area and have paid for my place in a few weeks time. Me being me (being a little over organised)I've already downloaded an audiobook giving you tips and what to expect when you arrive. One thing they do stress is not to drink too much alcohol on the night, and I've got a feeling those two hours could be the best or worst night of my life, but sometimes you've just got to go in with an open mind and dive in at the deep end.....Plus I'll meet more women in one night than I would've done over the past two years, (note to self: do not repeat this during the session.) now that's going to be one positive of the evening if anything!

So now the clock is ticking, just under two weeks and I'll be there, and it's the experience that counts, so bring it on!

Quick update

I currently have a folded bit of Notebook paper that has a list of activities for the year. So far, I've come up with eight different activities for 2010, the first I shall reveal shortly.

I've also setup a 'YouTube' Channel, so I'll record some clips to go with a few of the challenges to 'spice' the blog up a bit and make this a little more interesting to follow.

As I mentioned, I haven't quite got a full year planned yet, so if anyone has any suggestions, please leave your comments below.

And so a new year begins....

Well, the end of 2009, start of 2010 wasn't quite what I had planned. No, I didn't pass out at a mate's house party or wake up with the most memorable hangover ever.

Instead I basically picked up a head cold just after Christmas Eve which continued on to New Years Eve with an inner ear infection. This meant no alcohol, 3 paracetamol tablets to numb the pain and celebrating the new year in with a glass of orange juice, not whatever can of beer / random glass of unknown alcohol I could lay my hands on as 'Big Ben' struck midnight to ring in the New Year. That added with the constant question of "what's new with you?" and me replying with the "ah, you know, same old." began to get to me and this was when I knew something had to be done!

Now, a little over a week since New Years Eve, I find my weekends are already following the same pattern as they have done in 2009. Maybe watch a DVD - my current disc from 'lovefilm' was a complete let down and getting multi kills on 'Call of Duty' on the Xbox, (unfortunately I cannot claim these kills, but am the pure cannon fodder for those who spend 8hrs a day gunning down weaker soldiers (e.g me) at the other end of the gamer scale that barely get a chance to lock and load before getting shot by a sniper rifle carefully hidden in the bell tower.)

Sigh after sigh and one thing is clear. Something has got to change! It's only week 1 in to 2010 and I'm already bored! There has to be more to this!! While pondering what action needs to be taken, Sheryl Crow's "A Change Would Do You Good" pops up on the 'Itunes DJ'. Thanks Sheryl, but I'm already working on that, thanks for the added motivation though!

I've got some cash from Christmas that some of the family have sent me. (It seems the unwritten rule of 'when you get to a certain age you don't get presents, or those nasty M&S vouchers to the value of £4 anymore'. £4!! What can I buy in M&S for that, besides maybe a sandwich?!) I've pondered about buying myself a new camcorder, I currently have one built in with my digital camera, but the new "flip" camera records in HD and at a flick of a switch the USB arm pops out like an upgrade 'Megatron' would kill for! Or am I easily amused?? Men and gadgets have always gone together! (That's my excuse anyway!)

Then I got thinking, If I'm to spend this money...and wisely, a concept that is new to me, not just buying random junk or the latest Xbox shoot-em-up because...well... I can.This money needs to be spent on something enjoyable and memorable! Then it hit me, taking the inspiration from Danny Wallace's "Yes Man". (One incredible story, and just goes to show how much fun & adventure you can have when you're open to endless possibilities!) I would use this money to help build a fun and exciting 2010 on a monthly basis.

Now, I'd like to point out that this doesn't mean I'm about to train and climb the world's tallest mountain, figure out how to stop Global Warming or be the first to eat the largest Mars bar in the world (though, I'd give it a damn good try!) It's more about opening up myself to new experiences - from the smallest such as trying Thai food for the first time to the biggest - ...well, I'll leave that open for now.

I'm going to experience something new on a monthly basis. I haven't figured out a schedule for the whole year yet, but a few items include going to my first 'Stand Up' comedy show, Finding a decent Jazz Bar (A task a fellow housemate and I tried to find before he moved out, but with no luck!) & maybe even a Introduction to Snowboarding...again (I tried it about four years ago but after my buttocks didn't forgive me for about 5 days, was put off by the idea of turning myself in to a human snowball on the slope.)

So that brings us up to speed, now these challenges might seem a little basic or pointless to some, but 2010 could be the journey of exploration I've been hiding from for some time. So, let's see what 2010 holds in store....