AOL Flashbacks
Some of you who read this blog are probably too young to have ever had a romance blossom over AIM, AOL's IM program. 12 or 13 years ago, not only did I have a romance blossom over AIM, but it was also a way to find, shall we say, short-term friends. Since then, between taking myself off the market and advances in technology, IM is definitely "old school."
The fact that Match has an IM function is cute in its own regard. The fact that I spent time IMing (again) with #15, J3, is what has brought on the flashbacks, although I'm a very different person now than I was then.
Here is how today transpired. It's practically a script for a bad RomCom in the making.
Scene 1: Girl replies to Boy on Match email. In said email, she gives Boy her number. Giggle giggle. Shortly thereafter, Boy sends Girl a text message. They agree to "talk later." Then, for some reason, Girl decides to change the passcode on her phone.
Scene 2: Girl is cleaning her house to prepare for the holidays. Boy calls Girl; apparently "later" means 1 hour later. Girl decides to focus on her house at the moment, since when she cleans she gets a really bad case of AD...SQUIRREL!
Scene 3: Girl is ready to call Boy back. Girl goes to her phone and can't remember her new passcode! After over 20 failed attempts, Girl goes onto Match to email Boy about her dilemma. Except... Boy is also on Match at the same time! Girl decides to IM Boy instead.
Scene 3b: Girl continues with phone drama, ultimately deciding to wipe her phone (restore it to factory settings) after determining all her really important data is on THE CLOUD. Meanwhile, she's IMing with Boy.
Scene 3c: Girl discovers wiping and restoring her phone will require her to upgrade to the evil new operating system. Download time: 1 hour. Girl keeps IMing with Boy. IMs start going into ...interesting... subjects.
Scene 4: Download and phone restore success! Except... the phone will only restore apps one at a time. At this point, it's been over 3 hours and her phone is still not usable!! Good thing Boy was more than willing to IM for 3 hours.
Rather than still be attached to our computers, sending back and forth slow IMs, J3 and I agreed that while my phone finished its restoring I'd vacuum my apartment and start my Christmas decorating, which were my original Saturday afternoon plans, and then I'd call him when I was done. At this point, we've spent about 5 or 6 hours on IM, and exchanged several lengthy emails.
While vacuuming, I continued to ponder. I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the age difference. I always say age is just a number, so I can't figure out why considering someone so much younger than me is such an odd concept. He seems very mature, and he's certainly smart, articulate, and accomplished. And, he has a kitty. Any man who has a kitty has to be good, right?
About 1.5 hours after wrapping up the 3 hour IM session, as I'm finishing up my dinner, I receive a text message. It's from J3, wondering if my phone was still not usable. I wrote him back letting him know that I was just about to call him -- really, I was -- and that I'd do so in a minute.
Deep breath. Hit send.
2 hours and several dropped calls later (his phone sucks, to be honest), we set up a date. Woo hoo! It's for tomorrow night, which is really kind of crazy in some ways. We only started communicating on Wednesday. However, we have spent over 5 hours chatting via IM, we've exchanged several rather long emails, and we've spent 2 hours on the phone. Lastly, and perhaps most important, is that we both agree that a certain amount of conversation prior to meeting is necessary but it's only part of the package.
So what are we doing? In breaking from more traditional things, we're meeting at Dave & Busters. Oh, yeah, baby! It's been a couple years since I've been there, and we're both competitive. This should be interesting. I anticipate him beating me handily in the video games; where I might be able to hold my own will either be at the billiards tables or on things like air hockey and skeeball. Or, I'll probably embarrass myself thoroughly.
Regardless, I'll have fun. And, as always, I'll let you all know how it goes.
The fact that Match has an IM function is cute in its own regard. The fact that I spent time IMing (again) with #15, J3, is what has brought on the flashbacks, although I'm a very different person now than I was then.
Here is how today transpired. It's practically a script for a bad RomCom in the making.
Scene 1: Girl replies to Boy on Match email. In said email, she gives Boy her number. Giggle giggle. Shortly thereafter, Boy sends Girl a text message. They agree to "talk later." Then, for some reason, Girl decides to change the passcode on her phone.
Scene 2: Girl is cleaning her house to prepare for the holidays. Boy calls Girl; apparently "later" means 1 hour later. Girl decides to focus on her house at the moment, since when she cleans she gets a really bad case of AD...SQUIRREL!
Scene 3: Girl is ready to call Boy back. Girl goes to her phone and can't remember her new passcode! After over 20 failed attempts, Girl goes onto Match to email Boy about her dilemma. Except... Boy is also on Match at the same time! Girl decides to IM Boy instead.
Scene 3b: Girl continues with phone drama, ultimately deciding to wipe her phone (restore it to factory settings) after determining all her really important data is on THE CLOUD. Meanwhile, she's IMing with Boy.
Scene 3c: Girl discovers wiping and restoring her phone will require her to upgrade to the evil new operating system. Download time: 1 hour. Girl keeps IMing with Boy. IMs start going into ...interesting... subjects.
Scene 4: Download and phone restore success! Except... the phone will only restore apps one at a time. At this point, it's been over 3 hours and her phone is still not usable!! Good thing Boy was more than willing to IM for 3 hours.
Rather than still be attached to our computers, sending back and forth slow IMs, J3 and I agreed that while my phone finished its restoring I'd vacuum my apartment and start my Christmas decorating, which were my original Saturday afternoon plans, and then I'd call him when I was done. At this point, we've spent about 5 or 6 hours on IM, and exchanged several lengthy emails.
While vacuuming, I continued to ponder. I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the age difference. I always say age is just a number, so I can't figure out why considering someone so much younger than me is such an odd concept. He seems very mature, and he's certainly smart, articulate, and accomplished. And, he has a kitty. Any man who has a kitty has to be good, right?
About 1.5 hours after wrapping up the 3 hour IM session, as I'm finishing up my dinner, I receive a text message. It's from J3, wondering if my phone was still not usable. I wrote him back letting him know that I was just about to call him -- really, I was -- and that I'd do so in a minute.
Deep breath. Hit send.
2 hours and several dropped calls later (his phone sucks, to be honest), we set up a date. Woo hoo! It's for tomorrow night, which is really kind of crazy in some ways. We only started communicating on Wednesday. However, we have spent over 5 hours chatting via IM, we've exchanged several rather long emails, and we've spent 2 hours on the phone. Lastly, and perhaps most important, is that we both agree that a certain amount of conversation prior to meeting is necessary but it's only part of the package.
So what are we doing? In breaking from more traditional things, we're meeting at Dave & Busters. Oh, yeah, baby! It's been a couple years since I've been there, and we're both competitive. This should be interesting. I anticipate him beating me handily in the video games; where I might be able to hold my own will either be at the billiards tables or on things like air hockey and skeeball. Or, I'll probably embarrass myself thoroughly.
Regardless, I'll have fun. And, as always, I'll let you all know how it goes.
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