Just a little crush-ed

I think we've all been here before: you meet someone fun and exciting, they seem just as into you as you are into them, and all the pieces seem to fit. And you've liked people before, but this one seemed somehow different, special.

But there are rules, right? You can't tell someone you're crazy about them after a few short dates. You could scare them off. Or they might like 'the chase'*. Or you might look desperate. So you play it cool, as best you can, all the while hoping this is it. Your chance at love.

But it doesn't happen. And in the aftermath you're left to wonder what, if anything, you did wrong and why you're left with the short end of the stick.

The whole thing makes me think of an episode of Seinfeld (this happens often), my favorite one actually. In the "Fix Up", a frustrated and lonely George is set up for a blind date with Elaine's friend Cynthia. The first scene, in which George and Cynthia share their problems with Jerry and Elaine separately, reads like excerpts from my thoughts.

Cynthia: I mean the problem is that the good ones know they're good. And they know they're in such demand they're just not interested in confining themselves to one person.

When you can take your pick of the litter, you're not going to stick with Dwayne Wayne when there could be a Julian right around the corner. I wonder if I've ever been like that for someone. [Yes, I'm assuming I'm a good one, shut up] I've met nice guys before who just didn't do it for me for one reason or another (boring, no job, crappy job, not as attractive sober, etc) and moved on. Did they waste energy wondering what went wrong with me?

George: Why must it be so difficult? Why is there all this tension and hostility? Why can't I just walk up to a woman on the street and say, "Hi. I'm George. How are you?" Is that so terrible?

So now I'm back at square one. I was at square one in the first place, but I was starting to lift my foot for square two. My choices are either online forums, where the good ones enjoy the same privileges as before, or bars, where cliques create a barrier around good prospects.

Cynthia: Maybe I need somebody who has nothing, somebody who just has to
appreciate being with me because he's so desperate.

Well let's not go nuts.

*What happens when these people catch someone?

Site Design Basics

This is the web page to make payments for services in my city. Even though I've lived in my home for two months, I just received my first water bill and it only covered the last 15 days. I hate writing checks and mailing bills, so I'm glad they had an option to pay online.

But before making payment I had to enter my account information. So the page instructed me to take the account number on my statement and split it in half before entering it. It seems the first six numbers are actually my customer ID and the last six are my account number.

Wait, what?

First of all, it's confusing to have the "Account Number" represent both the actual account number and the Customer ID. Then they ask for the account number first when it's the last six digits. This is unnecessary and counterintuitive. Both of these problems could've been avoided by asking for the whole "Account Number" in one twelve-digit number (as it's listed on the bill) and then splitting it behind the scenes.

And on top of all this, it didn't find my record when I entered my information.

Sigh.

Lessons in Damage Control

I think most people would agree that having your personal family issues dragged out into a public forum is a difficult thing to go through. And I have to imagine navigating the sea of bullshit that comes with it can be daunting and tiring. Even so, I'm appalled at some brain-dead statements these public figures have made that do absolutely nothing to quiet the controversy or resolve conflicts.

[Note: Even though the two examples I'm about to discuss involve Republican politicians' families, this is only a coincidence. If the many philandering Dem politicans were equally stupid in the aftermath of their illicit affairs I'd be on their case too.]



Levi Johnston

Not the brightest bulb in the pack, Levi Johnston makes an easy mark for dishing the dirt on Sarah Palin's home life. And he's taken the bait quite readily. He's said that there wasn't "much parenting" in Palin's home, stated that Palin wanted to keep the pregnancy a secret (bringing back the preposterous conspiracy theories about the birth of her autistic child), and basically trashed her credibility to hell and back. Kudos for keeping it real, but isn't he aware he has a child to think about and he'll have to deal with the Palins for next 18+ years? How are you going to raise and visit your infant son when you're dishing dirt about his baby mama's mama on national TV? Dude doesn't even have a book deal.

Mark Sanford

Mark Sanford's politics disgust me. Favoring traditional marriage and abstinence-only education makes him a relic. His attempt to refuse stimulus funds was an appalling case of political posturing. And while I laugh at the hypocrisy of the views he espoused, I'm shocked at his inept handling of the fallout.

I've never cheated in a long-term relationship (partially because that would require being in one first), but if I learned one thing from TV, it's that you ALWAYS minimize the meaning behind an affair. "It was a one-time thing." "I was weak and didn't mean for it to happen." "Once I got in, I didn't know how to get out." What you absolutely do not do is get on national TV and call your mistress your "soulmate" and while trying to reconcile with your wife.

Sanford's wife Jenny, on the other hand, has broken standard protocol and managed to come out all the better for it. Usually wives silently stand beside their husband while he apologizes to the public for his shenanigans, but Mrs. Sanford has held the governor's feet to the fire. Now I'm sure other wives have made their husbands work to get back in their good graces (Hillary reportedly made Bill sleep on the couch for two months), but to my recollection Jenny Sanford is the first to do so publically. Good for her.

As for the rest of these guys, think before you get on TV and make a spectacle of yourself. Geez.