Dating in a perilous world...

 So, I've been on these online dating sites...

An example of how things can quickly sour in a partisan world.

Sort of a 2 day mini-romance from late July.

She reached out to me.

That always gives one hope...

 

2020.07.29

D: I've always been a sucker for devilishly witty men :)

T: Well, that's a hell of an opening! LOL. Good one! How are you this fine evening, Diana?

D: I couldn't resist -- it was such a great line. I'm well, Tim. And you?

 

T: I'm well, thanks. Although, I must say the devilishly witty part is kinda sly, too. one usually has to be paying attention to realized I've slipped in a zinger. I can't tell you how many times I've heard, "OMG, I see what you just did, you .... (usually finished with an expletive of choice. :D )

D: Just came back from taking my dog out and you're right--it is a fine evening.

So Match messages don't seem to line up sometimes. I've always appreciated a good zinger, being pretty skilled at them myself.

T: I drove home from Atlanta, today. Drove through that storm that swept across the state. Got on the leading edge of it and got home just in time to unload my car and get all the stuff loaded into the boat. The heavens opened up just as I stepped aboard and got under the canopy. whew. Perfect timing. I was kinda cranky about driving through all that rain in traffic, though... Oh good. A little witty banter to interrupt my cone of silence, then!

D: I used to teach middle school. The upside was zingers usually went over kids' heads. That was the downside too😆

 

T: oh no doubt. Kinda hard to let the little monsters know they've been zinged if it sails right over their heads.

D: What were you doing in Atlanta? I lived there for 20 years.

I've moved up to high school so my hopes are up.

I lived in ATL for 10 yrs not 20

T: I drove up there to see a friend. I'm not sure which had the higher smart-ass quotient. (it's been a while, right?) I think the tone was different for me. I think it was in high school that the sly bit started to come out.

D: That sounds ab right. I'm sure it's going to be a whole new level of slyness and smart-assness. But at least high schoolers are pretty good at both. Middle schoolers are just sad😂

Yeah, that's how I remember it, too. Just an awful lot of angst on so many levels. God bless you for putting up with it all the years you did. I never could have done that.

 

D: It was good training for many, many things -- like being on dating apps for instance lol

T: I can imagine! I was talking to one lady who gave me a lists of requests she had received. As in would you... Get a boob job for me, dye your hair blonde for me... etc.

Given that we're in our 60s and she has magnificent silver hair, I found the blonde dye job request, most odd.

D: Wow! The worst that's happened to me is I almost got suckered by a scammer. Online dating is definitely not for the faint of heart. How long have you been on Match?

T: I got on May 1. By mid June, I was pretty disgusted, already. Almost signed off. Haven't been online much, since. I also joined one called "Plenty of Fish" About 2 weeks ago. OMG. That one is even worse.

 

So, what was your scammer up to?

D: Yeah there's a lot of muck to trudge through for sure. I got on mid June, then was off for a while and now back. I do know three people who found their spouses on Match and have been happily married. It just sort of stinks that there aren't other alternatives.

T: A friend was on eharmony for a while. Apparently that is hook-up village. She likes Match better. The one thing I like about pof.com is that they have a search mechanism that will show you member who "will respond to you." I got so sick of reaching out to ladies after reading their profiles carefully and deducing we might be a match and then being ignored. I literally have had the most contact with women who have reached out to me. Which in a way is a good sign. Because I like women who are strong and self confident. So, I guess I need to put some beefcake pics up... :D (that's a joke. I've been told about pics with no shirts and dead animals and trophy cars in them... :D

One of my "stories" is that there was a local girl, I actually had a second date with. We had a blast on our first date and she invited me over for supper and a movie for a second date! Looking good. right? So, I go over to her house. She cooked scallops in angel hair pasta. She's an excellent cook and an excellent host. Having a good time. Half way through the movie... "Will you shave your beard for me?" Ahhh. no. Mood shift. Got a dear john text next day. d'oh. I was astounded. I've had my beard since I got out of the USAF in 1983. And this girl gets pissy because I won't shave my beard for her on our second date... wow.

 

D: Yes, I would also discourage public beefcake pics. I'm never really sure how to read those photos and I'm not sure what the female equivalent is.. bathing suits? Cleavage? I've actually never seen another woman's profile. Dead animals are also a definite "no" too...trophy cars, however.....😆

T: I don't have it anymore, but in 1986, I built a kit car. An Austin Healey replica. I have a lovely picture of a studly young Tim, leaning on it before going in to my little sister's wedding. I should post that...

oh, and for the record, when you're doing a selfie, look into the lens. Which on my phone-camera is in the corner and barely visible. ;)

D: How fun that must have been! Cars aren't really a selling point for me but can be a nice bonus😃. The pictures you posted of boats and sunsets are beautiful. I love the water and miss living near it. I grew up in St. Petersburg with the Gulf practically in my backyard. Here, we have beautiful rivers and springs and I'm a kayaker.

 

T: Are you near that much lauded hot springs near Ocala? I have a friend who lived there for a few years. Sadly, he moved back to NY after his second wife ran off with some guy. I don't get that. They were only married a few years. And she up and runs off with another guy. It's not like she was 20 right? We're talking late 60s. And they'd only been married a few yrs. weird. Anyway. When he was down here, that was Dave's favorite place to kayak.

 D: Yep I keep looking for that correct place to look on my camera and only hit it occasionally. Not a big selfie taker anyway. No. I don't know about hot springs in Ocala. Didn't even know there were hot springs in Florida. I'll have to look for that.. I think there are a lot of people who believe the grass is greener on the other side. That stinks for yr friend.

T: I think they're east of Ocala, somewhere. I'll take a quick look at the map and see if I can recognize the name of the town.

It's too bad I can't send you a link. Bloody Match, messes with the URLs to make them unusable. There's four of them, just east of Ocala. All scattered around a large recreation area in green on google maps. What I did was search for ocala. Then did a secondary search on "springs" in the viewing area. There's also a couple west of Ocala, too. But, I think the one Dave and Pam went to was Silver Springs which is just east of Ocala

D: Thanks! I actually need to head to bed soon only because I have a house painter showing up at 7 who I have to talk to about shutters (long story -- he finished my house 2 weeks ago and is squeezing me in between new clients -- argh). I'd like to continue talking tomorrow if you're game.

T: Apparently the one west of Ocala (which seems to be attached to water that reaches the gulf) is a big gathering spot for Manatees. That would be lovely.

Sleep well. Talk to you tomorrow.

 

D: You too. Sounds like Kings Bay maybe.. Goodnight.

Today, 1:07 AM

T: I'm still up, poking around. took a 4 hr nap after my 6 hr drive. So I thought I'd send you this. You mentioned my photography earlier and I neglected to thank you or even acknowledge. My apologies. Anyway, if you go here: tim-fuhrmann.imgbb.com*albums (replace the asterisk with a forward slash. this is one of the things Match does to mess with urls. it deletes forward slashes... sigh. Anyway, I put an asterisk where the fwd slash should be.) This will take you to my albums page on IMGBB, which is a free photo hosting site. It's where I've been posting my photography for the last 20 months or so, since Flicker went to being a pay site. There's another sunset shot or two there... :D (I did a sunset project this year. Took a shot of sunset every night from mid January thru June 4 when I got weary of it all.) For some odd reason, imgbb's default sort is last uploaded. So, once you open an album, click on AZ to the right of the album name. This will sort the album alphabetically, which will put it in sequential order based on my naming convention. enjoy.

Today, 7:23 AM

D: Thanks for the link. I enjoyed looking through your albums. I've always loved photography. It was a hobby I had with my dad and my niece is an aspiring photojournalist who's won some impressive awards. How did you get interested in photography? And, as a completely unrelated question, what's the meaning of wwg1 wga on your profile?

T: Good Morning Diana... wow. messed up sleep cycle. Finally got to sleep after 0330, thought, well maybe I'll sleep till 10, that would be nice. Woke at 0715 sharp, sigh. I have been interested in Photography since Middle School when my uncle gave me a very early 35mm camera. I think it was called an Argus C3. It was not yet a single lens reflex. but it was 35mm. I later went on to study R-tv-film. which both my BS and MA are in Producing and directing for Television. I did that for about 10 years before I got weary of the clients. And then I put down my cameras and didn't touch them again until about 2002 when I started shooting the sailboat races. I did that, because I had quit racing my sailboat. (it was too heavy for the light Chesapeake air) 

But, I couldn't get Wednesday nights out of my system. So, I started showing up to photograph the races. Which I have now done for nearly 20 years. WWG1WGA stand for Where We Go 1 We Go All. Which was inscribed on the bell on JFK's Sailboat. It was also used (also on a bell) in the mid 1990s movie, White Squall. It is the rallying cry of a group of patriots trying to bring transparency, Honor and Justice to the American Political process.

 

D: I was up at 6:30 which is way earlier than I prefer during summer. That's great that you were able to transfer your love of sailing to your love for photography.

So where do you place yourself politically?

T: I used to consider myself a liberal until the Democrats went off the rails. I am a patriot. By that I mean, a constitutionalist. I see you have yourself as a liberal. I will say, that if you are a fan of HRC, you and I are not going to be a match. HRC should be arrested on at least three counts of Treason. Obama on several counts as well. And this is coming from a guy who voted for Obama first term, because he was a purported constitutional scholar. And his opposition in that election was a treasonous bastard, too. The choice was clear. In 2012, I voted for Willie Nelson. Because Obama was clearly a crook by then and his opponent in that race is a Hedge Fund - Corporate Raider who is below scum of the earth. In 2016, I didn't even vote. Because what was the point of voting for Willie Nelson again?

D: Nope. Don't think this will work. Good luck to you.

T: Good luck to you, as well. If you need to talk when HRC is arrested, feel free to reach out. I’ll be here for you. 

 

epilogue:

I have noticed that my profile attracts a lot of teachers.  Probably because of the Benjamin Franklin Quote that is the basis for this blog's title.   Sadly, apparently most teachers are hugely left oriented.  I don't know if that's by design or indoctrination.  Whatever the source, it poses problems in a deeply partisan world where even educated people are unwilling to allow for an alternate viewpoint.  Apparently teaching isn't really about teaching people to think.  Or even get along...

 

-- Much Love.