Saturday, March 7, 2015
There's a woman who lives about 4 blocks from me who is very active in Meetup. Back when I first arrived here she was hosting a waterfront walk and lunch a few times a month that I participated in, but the past long while it's been mostly bar happy hours and so on, which don't interest me.
Yesterday evening she had a party at her house. That's more my speed, but I didn't RSVP right away because, well, I've become increasingly reclusive lately, and I wanted to see how I felt about it closer to the date. She had restricted attendance to 40, and the 40 slots filled up quickly.
Yesterday late morning she sent out a broadcast email saying that 15 slots had opened up, so I went to the group website, and sure enough the excuses were pouring in. Family obligations. Have to work late. Sister is coming for the weekend. Worried about ice on the drive home.
This seems to be typical for this area.
The hostess, cheerful as always, said oh well, 25 is a more comfortable number in her small home anyway.
This morning I checked again. 17 people actually showed up, and having seen her counts for some of the walks I'd been on, I know she tends to pad the numbers a bit. I suspect it was more likely fewer.
Even using her numbers, that means 40 people snapped up the places (to make sure they had something to do on that Friday night in case nothing better turned up), 15 cancelled the DAY of the event, and 8 or more didn't even bother to cancel.
I really don't like the people around here.
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Showing posts with label Meetup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Meetup. Show all posts
Saturday, March 07, 2015
Saturday, June 08, 2013
3739 Singles' groups, and more
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Meetup has a few local singles' groups that I joined. I haven't gone to anything because I'm not really looking, plus they seem to concentrate on booze, bars, and bands, which don't interest me. But I joined just so that if I ever wanted to check the local single males, I wouldn't have to plow through the several hundred NYC offerings to find the local singles' groups.
That "not really looking" is key to today's rant.
One of the local groups has sort of blown up. Some guy wrote a group-wide email complaining that NONE of the women in the group seem to be really looking. He complains that he constantly gets the brush-off at events, and on the few occasions when a woman consents to a date with him, it goes no further than a dinner or two or three, and no further. He complains that the women in the group are not really interested in any relationship, at least no futher than a few free dinners. He says that all the women seem to have already decided what they want in a man, specific criteria and high standards, a list of requirements that no man could ever meet (let alone the men who resort to Meetup - those are my words, not his). He says the women go to meetups not to meet up, but just to socialize and reject.
He was then joined by other men in the group who agreed with him, a blizzard of whining emails. (Not one woman responded with what I would expect to be the rational response - "Hey, fellows, maybe it's you. Maybe you're turning them off.")
I think there's a very wide divide between men's and women's expectations at any event listed as for singles. Women go thinking that the best way to find "the one" is to meet as many single men as possible, and this is one way to meet a bunch. Men go thinking that wow, here's a whole bunch of women starving for sex, I ought to be able to get one of them for myself.
It's like the men think, hey, if you don't want to sleep with me, why are you here? Why are you wasting my time?
Well, the organizer's response to the furor was a note to the women of the group, saying that if you're not "really looking", then maybe you shouldn't be a member of the group. Um, is she saying that if you don't hook up with a certain number of the male members per year, you should drop out? Isn't that procuring?
Are the women expected to prove that they are open to a relationship by sleeping around?
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If I have seen farther than others, it is because I was standing on the shoulders of giants. -Isaac Newton
If I have not seen as far as others, it is because giants were standing on my shoulders. -Hal Abelson
In computer science, we stand on each other's feet. -Brian K. Reed
If I have not seen as far as others, it is because giants were standing on my shoulders. -Hal Abelson
In computer science, we stand on each other's feet. -Brian K. Reed
--------------------------------------------------------------
Meetup has a few local singles' groups that I joined. I haven't gone to anything because I'm not really looking, plus they seem to concentrate on booze, bars, and bands, which don't interest me. But I joined just so that if I ever wanted to check the local single males, I wouldn't have to plow through the several hundred NYC offerings to find the local singles' groups.
That "not really looking" is key to today's rant.
One of the local groups has sort of blown up. Some guy wrote a group-wide email complaining that NONE of the women in the group seem to be really looking. He complains that he constantly gets the brush-off at events, and on the few occasions when a woman consents to a date with him, it goes no further than a dinner or two or three, and no further. He complains that the women in the group are not really interested in any relationship, at least no futher than a few free dinners. He says that all the women seem to have already decided what they want in a man, specific criteria and high standards, a list of requirements that no man could ever meet (let alone the men who resort to Meetup - those are my words, not his). He says the women go to meetups not to meet up, but just to socialize and reject.
He was then joined by other men in the group who agreed with him, a blizzard of whining emails. (Not one woman responded with what I would expect to be the rational response - "Hey, fellows, maybe it's you. Maybe you're turning them off.")
I think there's a very wide divide between men's and women's expectations at any event listed as for singles. Women go thinking that the best way to find "the one" is to meet as many single men as possible, and this is one way to meet a bunch. Men go thinking that wow, here's a whole bunch of women starving for sex, I ought to be able to get one of them for myself.
It's like the men think, hey, if you don't want to sleep with me, why are you here? Why are you wasting my time?
Well, the organizer's response to the furor was a note to the women of the group, saying that if you're not "really looking", then maybe you shouldn't be a member of the group. Um, is she saying that if you don't hook up with a certain number of the male members per year, you should drop out? Isn't that procuring?
Are the women expected to prove that they are open to a relationship by sleeping around?
.
Saturday, January 07, 2012
3440 I really don't need this
Saturday, January 7, 2012
I've been suspecting a UTI for the past ten days. The AZO strip said "sorta", and the strange odor to my urine is back. I have no other symptoms. I've been drinking a lot of water, and upped the cranberry tablets. Sometimes the odor would go away for a day, then it would be back. The urologist has office hours only on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday (other days he's doing surgery and stuff, and you can't even make an appointment on the non-office days), so on Thursday I finally faced the fact that I would have to make an appointment on Monday.
Yesterday afternoon I started the dull pain across the top of my hips and the heavy feeling in the abdomen, and in the evening the slight nausea started - not like I feel like I might throw up, but like I don't want to eat. Just before I went to bed the blood started. My urine was red last night and first thing this morning, with small stringy clots.
I just piddled a few minutes ago, and now it looks fine.
I don't know what's going on. I now have less pain in the back, so maybe I passed a small stone? I'm now piddling into a strainer.
I called the doctor's office just in case there might be someone there, and I got the message that "if it's an emergency, call 911." I don't want to go to the ER. That's horribly expensive even with insurance, and I doubt that this is an emergency.
Sigh. I really don't need this....
--------------------------------
I also woke up this morning to a Meetup announcement, that one of my event organizers has scheduled a Super Bowl Party, in a bar, for my meetup group.
I was immediately extremely angry. I was very specific with those women that the group was for dining and conversation, I specifically set a geographic boundary, I specifically said we don't do bars, bands, or booze (although if the restaurant happens to have a bar that's ok), I specifically said that attendance should be limited to one table of diners. I was very clear that it was a small conversational group.
She has set up an unlimited blowout in a bar on Super Bowl Sunday, way outside the geographic limit, with DJ and dancing after the game.
What's wrong with these people? She completely ignored everything I said.
I waited until I calmed down, then I wrote an email to all four, saying that I was pleased that they were taking the reins and scheduling events. However, I would appreciate it if they would reread the initial email I had sent as to the purpose of the group. I said that I am allowed to start up to three groups, so if any of them would like to start a separate group under my account, they may do so. I mentioned that I was going to cancel the Super Bowl party as outside the parameters of the dining group.
Then I sent a separate email to the woman who organized the party, saying that she is welcome to start a group under my account, she can name it and define it any way she wishes and have complete control over it. Then after it's set up, I'll cancel the party under the dinner group and we'll just have everyone who RSVPed for the party move to her group and RSVP there.
What do you want to bet she doesn't read the entire notes, blows up, freaks out, emails all 38 current members blasting me, and just generally makes life miserable for me?
Sigh. I really don't need this....
.
Ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to be lazy.
-- Steven Wright --
-----------------------------------------------
-- Steven Wright --
-----------------------------------------------
I've been suspecting a UTI for the past ten days. The AZO strip said "sorta", and the strange odor to my urine is back. I have no other symptoms. I've been drinking a lot of water, and upped the cranberry tablets. Sometimes the odor would go away for a day, then it would be back. The urologist has office hours only on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday (other days he's doing surgery and stuff, and you can't even make an appointment on the non-office days), so on Thursday I finally faced the fact that I would have to make an appointment on Monday.
Yesterday afternoon I started the dull pain across the top of my hips and the heavy feeling in the abdomen, and in the evening the slight nausea started - not like I feel like I might throw up, but like I don't want to eat. Just before I went to bed the blood started. My urine was red last night and first thing this morning, with small stringy clots.
I just piddled a few minutes ago, and now it looks fine.
I don't know what's going on. I now have less pain in the back, so maybe I passed a small stone? I'm now piddling into a strainer.
I called the doctor's office just in case there might be someone there, and I got the message that "if it's an emergency, call 911." I don't want to go to the ER. That's horribly expensive even with insurance, and I doubt that this is an emergency.
Sigh. I really don't need this....
--------------------------------
I also woke up this morning to a Meetup announcement, that one of my event organizers has scheduled a Super Bowl Party, in a bar, for my meetup group.
I was immediately extremely angry. I was very specific with those women that the group was for dining and conversation, I specifically set a geographic boundary, I specifically said we don't do bars, bands, or booze (although if the restaurant happens to have a bar that's ok), I specifically said that attendance should be limited to one table of diners. I was very clear that it was a small conversational group.
She has set up an unlimited blowout in a bar on Super Bowl Sunday, way outside the geographic limit, with DJ and dancing after the game.
What's wrong with these people? She completely ignored everything I said.
I waited until I calmed down, then I wrote an email to all four, saying that I was pleased that they were taking the reins and scheduling events. However, I would appreciate it if they would reread the initial email I had sent as to the purpose of the group. I said that I am allowed to start up to three groups, so if any of them would like to start a separate group under my account, they may do so. I mentioned that I was going to cancel the Super Bowl party as outside the parameters of the dining group.
Then I sent a separate email to the woman who organized the party, saying that she is welcome to start a group under my account, she can name it and define it any way she wishes and have complete control over it. Then after it's set up, I'll cancel the party under the dinner group and we'll just have everyone who RSVPed for the party move to her group and RSVP there.
What do you want to bet she doesn't read the entire notes, blows up, freaks out, emails all 38 current members blasting me, and just generally makes life miserable for me?
Sigh. I really don't need this....
.
Friday, January 06, 2012
3439 Duh....
Friday, January 6, 2012
It's Friday. Another week during which I made absolutely no progress on anything.
Well, I did find the forms online to kill my NY "business". I never bought anything using the tax id and I never sold anything, but I still had to file tax forms for it, so I figure I may as well kill it. All the forms I could find online to kill a DBA were dated for 2011, though. I hope there are no major changes in the forms for 2012.
I couldn't actually print them because my printer has a problem.
It worked fine for a few weeks after I bought it, then it quit printing things in real time. The error message says it's offline. But it would, however, print everything on the queue when I IPLed. As soon as Windows was full up, it was offline again. About two weeks ago it stopped even that.
It will scan documents and print them - so essentially I have a copier. It has never, since I first installed it, been willing to send scanned stuff to the computer.
I figured I should uninstall and reinstall it, but I can't find the disk or booklet that came with it. I swear they were on top of the desk overhead, but they're not there now.
So I sent links to the tax forms to Daughter to print for me, but she is extremely relaxed about stuff like that. Oh, well, I have until March.
It just seems like everything these days is either going wrong, or is harder than it should be. I want to hide in my bed. Yesterday I didn't get dressed at all.
--------------------------------
I have done nothing with the Meetup dinner group, either, since that dinner last summer when nine people signed up, and then one by one they cancelled out until the afternoon of the dinner I was the only one left.
It was up for renewal this month, and I didn't want to pay for renewal if I wasn't going to do anything, so I'm trying something. I asked the members for volunteers as event coordinators. Four women volunteered. I sent them an email asking that they please, when they schedule a dinner, keep to my vision for the group:
- Local to this area (I specified "south of"/"north of" boundaries)
- Limit to six or eight at table
- Make sure ALL information is in the original announcement so there won't be update after update, change after change.
Yeah. Sure. I keep forgetting that people are crazy. One of the women has scheduled a dinner for the end of January. No attendance limit, and she's changed the time already. She wants reservations in a whole week before so she can "make arrangements with the restaurant". I guess she's unaware that people wait until the last minute to drop out. It's terrible of me, but I almost hope she learns from this....
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Another happy ending….
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It's Friday. Another week during which I made absolutely no progress on anything.
Well, I did find the forms online to kill my NY "business". I never bought anything using the tax id and I never sold anything, but I still had to file tax forms for it, so I figure I may as well kill it. All the forms I could find online to kill a DBA were dated for 2011, though. I hope there are no major changes in the forms for 2012.
I couldn't actually print them because my printer has a problem.
It worked fine for a few weeks after I bought it, then it quit printing things in real time. The error message says it's offline. But it would, however, print everything on the queue when I IPLed. As soon as Windows was full up, it was offline again. About two weeks ago it stopped even that.
It will scan documents and print them - so essentially I have a copier. It has never, since I first installed it, been willing to send scanned stuff to the computer.
I figured I should uninstall and reinstall it, but I can't find the disk or booklet that came with it. I swear they were on top of the desk overhead, but they're not there now.
So I sent links to the tax forms to Daughter to print for me, but she is extremely relaxed about stuff like that. Oh, well, I have until March.
It just seems like everything these days is either going wrong, or is harder than it should be. I want to hide in my bed. Yesterday I didn't get dressed at all.
--------------------------------
I have done nothing with the Meetup dinner group, either, since that dinner last summer when nine people signed up, and then one by one they cancelled out until the afternoon of the dinner I was the only one left.
It was up for renewal this month, and I didn't want to pay for renewal if I wasn't going to do anything, so I'm trying something. I asked the members for volunteers as event coordinators. Four women volunteered. I sent them an email asking that they please, when they schedule a dinner, keep to my vision for the group:
- Local to this area (I specified "south of"/"north of" boundaries)
- Limit to six or eight at table
- Make sure ALL information is in the original announcement so there won't be update after update, change after change.
Yeah. Sure. I keep forgetting that people are crazy. One of the women has scheduled a dinner for the end of January. No attendance limit, and she's changed the time already. She wants reservations in a whole week before so she can "make arrangements with the restaurant". I guess she's unaware that people wait until the last minute to drop out. It's terrible of me, but I almost hope she learns from this....
.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
3394 MeetUp rant
Sunday, November 13, 2011
I went to another MeetUp luncheon in the Princeton area today. There were 10 at table (a round table, which is always nicest). I'm enjoying this group. When the bill came, it got passed around the table and folks put their money in. The organizer was the last to get it, and when he did, there was about $9 more there than was required. His personal total was only about $12. He tried to give money back to others who had put a dollar or so extra in, but we all told him to shut up and put $3-4 in, and consider it his organizer privilege. I asked him if this was his first MeetUp group, and when he said "Yes", I explained to him that soon the CRAZIES will start joining, and he will EARN that few dollars. I didn't give him any details. He'll find out soon enough.
Ah, the crazies.
Like the guy in Rhinebeck who got furious with me and called me some nasty names because I scheduled a movie he wanted to see, on a Thursday night. He had a dog obedience class on Thursday night, and he acted like I had chosen Thursday purposely to exclude him.
Hey, if you don't like it, pay the $70 like I did and start your own group that goes to movies on Wednesday nights! Thursday is convenient for ME, and I paid to start the group.
Or the guy who was vegetarian, and blasted me because I had chosen a BBQ place for dinner.
Hey, if you don't like it, pay the $70 like I did and start your own group that goes to vegetarian restaurants! I like BBQ, and I paid to start the group.
Or the woman who wanted me to kick another guy out of the group because he was the ex-husband of a friend of a friend of hers (a woman whom she didn't know personally), and he had supposedly been physically abusive, and when I said I wouldn't kick him out on the basis of what amounted to a fourth-hand rumor (having worked in a family-law office, I know to take divorce proceeding claims with a large grain of salt anyway), she then castigated me in several screaming emails that smoked in my inbox, and broadcast emails to everyone in the group telling them that I condoned abuse and put everyone else in the group in danger, and therefore she was leaving the group and advised everyone else to also drop out in protest.
Hey, if you don't like it, pay the $70 like I did and start your own group that talks behind people's backs and blackballs people! I give people a chance to show who they really are, and I paid to start the group.
Or the woman who got pissed because she couldn't find me in the 4'x10' lobby of the tiny Rhinebeck theatre, even though she had my photo, accused me of ducking her because I didn't like her looks (um, bad blind date experiences, lady?), told me how nasty that was, and then didn't bother to apologize when I pointed out that she had the wrong evening.
Hey, read the listing! I paid $70 for the privilege of taking a lot of time to do all the research, write up the announcement, show up early to meet people, the least you can do is READ the damn listing.
Or the woman who apparently didn't read the part of the group description that said we would NOT be doing bars, booze, and bands, and then got angry with me when I repeatedly refused to schedule happy hour events at the Starlight Bar when her friend's band was playing there.
Hey, read the listing! I paid $70 to set up a group to do dinner out, street fairs, museums, and movies, period. I am not here to drum up support for your friend's band. The least you can do is READ the damn group description.
Or the people who RSVP yes, and then don't show up and don't cancel. How often can you reserve a table for eight and have only two show up, before the restaurant won't take your reservations any more?
Or the folks who consistently don't pay their fair share of the restaurant tab. Or, or, or....
MeetUp organizers PAY $70 for six months. They do it to get people together to do whatever it is the ORGANIZER wants to do, WHERE the organizer wants to do it --- NOT for the privilege of catering to the individualized and special needs of self-important people who seem to think that you have signed up to be their unpaid social directors.
Hey, it's MY group. Thursday happens to be most convenient for me! I happen to like BBQ! I don't punish people on the basis of rumor! If you don't like what I'm doing in my group,
Oops. Sorry.
I'm still having trouble with it.
Because there are still people who want organizers to cater to them, and I want to yell at them.
The organizer today asked the table where they'd like to go next week. Nine people. "Oh, let's go to xxx." "No, I don't like xxx. They're too expensive. Let's go to yyy." ...and so on. He's set himself up, because now if he does decide to go to xxx, he's got at least one person pissed at him. "You KNOW I can't afford that place! I told you so!"
Hey, you are NOT being snubbed. You are free to join in or not, as suits you and your abilities and needs. You are NOT free to dictate what I can and cannot do.
After lunch a subset went for a walk along the canal in Princeton, and when the organizer was asking what people wanted to do, I told him he can't satisfy everyone, so he should just do what HE wants to do, and invite others to join him. It's the only way.
A family is only as sick as its secrets.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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I went to another MeetUp luncheon in the Princeton area today. There were 10 at table (a round table, which is always nicest). I'm enjoying this group. When the bill came, it got passed around the table and folks put their money in. The organizer was the last to get it, and when he did, there was about $9 more there than was required. His personal total was only about $12. He tried to give money back to others who had put a dollar or so extra in, but we all told him to shut up and put $3-4 in, and consider it his organizer privilege. I asked him if this was his first MeetUp group, and when he said "Yes", I explained to him that soon the CRAZIES will start joining, and he will EARN that few dollars. I didn't give him any details. He'll find out soon enough.
Ah, the crazies.
Like the guy in Rhinebeck who got furious with me and called me some nasty names because I scheduled a movie he wanted to see, on a Thursday night. He had a dog obedience class on Thursday night, and he acted like I had chosen Thursday purposely to exclude him.
Hey, if you don't like it, pay the $70 like I did and start your own group that goes to movies on Wednesday nights! Thursday is convenient for ME, and I paid to start the group.
Or the guy who was vegetarian, and blasted me because I had chosen a BBQ place for dinner.
Hey, if you don't like it, pay the $70 like I did and start your own group that goes to vegetarian restaurants! I like BBQ, and I paid to start the group.
Or the woman who wanted me to kick another guy out of the group because he was the ex-husband of a friend of a friend of hers (a woman whom she didn't know personally), and he had supposedly been physically abusive, and when I said I wouldn't kick him out on the basis of what amounted to a fourth-hand rumor (having worked in a family-law office, I know to take divorce proceeding claims with a large grain of salt anyway), she then castigated me in several screaming emails that smoked in my inbox, and broadcast emails to everyone in the group telling them that I condoned abuse and put everyone else in the group in danger, and therefore she was leaving the group and advised everyone else to also drop out in protest.
Hey, if you don't like it, pay the $70 like I did and start your own group that talks behind people's backs and blackballs people! I give people a chance to show who they really are, and I paid to start the group.
Or the woman who got pissed because she couldn't find me in the 4'x10' lobby of the tiny Rhinebeck theatre, even though she had my photo, accused me of ducking her because I didn't like her looks (um, bad blind date experiences, lady?), told me how nasty that was, and then didn't bother to apologize when I pointed out that she had the wrong evening.
Hey, read the listing! I paid $70 for the privilege of taking a lot of time to do all the research, write up the announcement, show up early to meet people, the least you can do is READ the damn listing.
Or the woman who apparently didn't read the part of the group description that said we would NOT be doing bars, booze, and bands, and then got angry with me when I repeatedly refused to schedule happy hour events at the Starlight Bar when her friend's band was playing there.
Hey, read the listing! I paid $70 to set up a group to do dinner out, street fairs, museums, and movies, period. I am not here to drum up support for your friend's band. The least you can do is READ the damn group description.
Or the people who RSVP yes, and then don't show up and don't cancel. How often can you reserve a table for eight and have only two show up, before the restaurant won't take your reservations any more?
Or the folks who consistently don't pay their fair share of the restaurant tab. Or, or, or....
MeetUp organizers PAY $70 for six months. They do it to get people together to do whatever it is the ORGANIZER wants to do, WHERE the organizer wants to do it --- NOT for the privilege of catering to the individualized and special needs of self-important people who seem to think that you have signed up to be their unpaid social directors.
Hey, it's MY group. Thursday happens to be most convenient for me! I happen to like BBQ! I don't punish people on the basis of rumor! If you don't like what I'm doing in my group,
SCRAPE UP $70 AND START YOUR OWN DAMN GROUP!
Oops. Sorry.
I'm still having trouble with it.
Because there are still people who want organizers to cater to them, and I want to yell at them.
The organizer today asked the table where they'd like to go next week. Nine people. "Oh, let's go to xxx." "No, I don't like xxx. They're too expensive. Let's go to yyy." ...and so on. He's set himself up, because now if he does decide to go to xxx, he's got at least one person pissed at him. "You KNOW I can't afford that place! I told you so!"
Hey, you are NOT being snubbed. You are free to join in or not, as suits you and your abilities and needs. You are NOT free to dictate what I can and cannot do.
After lunch a subset went for a walk along the canal in Princeton, and when the organizer was asking what people wanted to do, I told him he can't satisfy everyone, so he should just do what HE wants to do, and invite others to join him. It's the only way.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
3312 Meetup - anger!
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
If "disgruntled" is bad, then "gruntled" should be good, right? So why does it sound so bad?
-------------------------------
So. Tonight is the first dinner I scheduled under Meetup. The way it works is that you post an activity, and then members can RSVP.
I set the limit at 8 people, and closed RSVPs at 7 pm on Tuesday. As of Tuesday 7 pm, I had 9 people signed up, including me. That's not supposed to happen, to end up over count, but one person RSVP'd for herself, and then instead of checking the box for bringing a guest, so the guest could be counted in the total, she just added the guest as a comment. Sheesh. Idiot.
Anyway, 9 people were signed up at 7 pm Tuesday. Now I've got 2. Seven cancellations yesterday and today - the latest at 4 pm today. Gee, thanks for the notice. "Something came up" being the common excuse.
Yes, I am thoroughly absolutely utterly pissed. Disgruntled.
If they had cancelled BEFORE the RSVP cutoff, maybe others who DID want to go might have signed up. Talk about me-ism. Entitlement. "I'll reserve a space so nobody else can have it, just in case I decide to make the effort." I can't believe these people can't make plans two days in advance.
There's ONE other person left now. And if she doesn't show up I'll spit nails. Actually, I'd like to cancel, but I figure it's too late now. Thanks a hell of a lot, 4 pm person.
-------------------------------------
6:50 pm Update: The last person cancelled at 6 pm, after I sent her a note asking if she was still coming. She "forgot". (Um, hey, Meetup sends reminders.)
It's not something I did, honest. I can't feel responsible in any way. All the information was in the event posting, Meetup sent automatic reminders, I sent out no broadcast notes so it's unlikely I offended anyone, and I didn't do like a lot of organizers and change the details every other day.
I don't understand.
.
It matters not what you call me, but what I answer to.
-- African Proverb --
---------------------------------------------
-- African Proverb --
---------------------------------------------
If "disgruntled" is bad, then "gruntled" should be good, right? So why does it sound so bad?
-------------------------------
So. Tonight is the first dinner I scheduled under Meetup. The way it works is that you post an activity, and then members can RSVP.
I set the limit at 8 people, and closed RSVPs at 7 pm on Tuesday. As of Tuesday 7 pm, I had 9 people signed up, including me. That's not supposed to happen, to end up over count, but one person RSVP'd for herself, and then instead of checking the box for bringing a guest, so the guest could be counted in the total, she just added the guest as a comment. Sheesh. Idiot.
Anyway, 9 people were signed up at 7 pm Tuesday. Now I've got 2. Seven cancellations yesterday and today - the latest at 4 pm today. Gee, thanks for the notice. "Something came up" being the common excuse.
Yes, I am thoroughly absolutely utterly pissed. Disgruntled.
If they had cancelled BEFORE the RSVP cutoff, maybe others who DID want to go might have signed up. Talk about me-ism. Entitlement. "I'll reserve a space so nobody else can have it, just in case I decide to make the effort." I can't believe these people can't make plans two days in advance.
There's ONE other person left now. And if she doesn't show up I'll spit nails. Actually, I'd like to cancel, but I figure it's too late now. Thanks a hell of a lot, 4 pm person.
-------------------------------------
6:50 pm Update: The last person cancelled at 6 pm, after I sent her a note asking if she was still coming. She "forgot". (Um, hey, Meetup sends reminders.)
It's not something I did, honest. I can't feel responsible in any way. All the information was in the event posting, Meetup sent automatic reminders, I sent out no broadcast notes so it's unlikely I offended anyone, and I didn't do like a lot of organizers and change the details every other day.
I don't understand.
.
Thursday, July 07, 2011
3300 Running around
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Yesterday I mowed the back yard, babysat in the morning and a little in the afternoon while Daughter got some stuff done, and squeezed in a mammogram.
I'd always wondered what people meant when they said mammograms hurt, because they never bothered me in the least. This time, the right didn't hurt, but the left did. I wonder if it was the way she arranged me. Every other time, and on the right yesterday, the technician arranged the "fold" (you know how you get folded in half?) exactly across the nipple. Yesterday, I noticed that for both views on the left, the fold was below the nipple, so that the nipple was sort of flat against the top plate. I hope that's what made it hurt, and not something going on in there.
-------------------------------
I'm now at the old house. I didn't get on the road as soon as I'd wanted to today, but it was good enough, I guess, to get a few things done. I got up here in time to go to the radiology lab and pick up my old mammo films. I'll take them to the new place on Monday.
I went to the DMV and picked up forms to get new copies of the NY titles for my vehicles. I'm sure they're around here somewhere, but I can't find them. I'll need them to register the cars in NJ. There's a problem - NY will send the copies only to the "address of record", which is the old house. I'm having my mail forwarded, and that's working fine, BUT the post office will not forward official government mail. So they will be returned. Duh. The woman at the DMV gave me a number to call to ask how I can get them sent to my new address.
I stopped at the post office to verify that, and yeah, they won't forward them. But she said that they'll be returned with a sticker on them with my new address, so NY should then send them again to the new address.
Uh, yeah, but remember this is the DMV we're talking about. Logic and "makes sense" don't apply.
Then I got Fred the van inspected at an oil change place. The NY inspection expires the end of this month. His serpentine belt is bald, and they told me he couldn't pass inspection with that belt, and they can't fix it. Well, sort of. The mechanic offered to pass him if I gave him "a little extra". It took me a minute to understand what he was saying. I said, "Uh, no, I'd really rather do this legally." Later the manager came to me and said he "has a soft spot for the elderly and disabled" (Fred's a wheelchair van) so they'd pass him anyway, but I'd have to promise to get the belt fixed within the next ten days.
"Elderly?"
So then I went to a Dodge dealership to see if I could get it done tomorrow. They have no open time slots, but want me to call tomorrow and maybe they can squeeze him in.
Then I went to the garage that's working on Suzie (they haven't got to her yet) to get her VIN to order her new title, and to make sure they had my new phone number.
I stopped somewhere else, too, but darned if I can remember where.
Right now I'm watching "Big Bang Theory", and plan to watch "Big Brother" (shame! shame!) later. All that running around after a 2.75 hour drive has left me drained.
--------------------------------
I mentioned I'd started a Meetup dining out group. I was disappointed because it got no action for two days. I didn't realize that Meetup hadn't released it to the public yet. They released it yesterday, and I already have 22 members, and three have RSVP'd to a dinner I scheduled for July 7.
I'm afraid I might see some of the same craziness that drove me away the last time. I clearly stated I wanted to keep it local, even gave a north and south limit. So, one of the new members lives in Manhattan, and has suggested that we meet at some Manhattan restaurants. Sigh. Actually, if she wants to, I guess I could let her host it....
.
A "nine-days' wonder" is taken as a matter of course on the tenth day.
-- Robert Heinlein --
-------------------------------------------------------
-- Robert Heinlein --
-------------------------------------------------------
Yesterday I mowed the back yard, babysat in the morning and a little in the afternoon while Daughter got some stuff done, and squeezed in a mammogram.
I'd always wondered what people meant when they said mammograms hurt, because they never bothered me in the least. This time, the right didn't hurt, but the left did. I wonder if it was the way she arranged me. Every other time, and on the right yesterday, the technician arranged the "fold" (you know how you get folded in half?) exactly across the nipple. Yesterday, I noticed that for both views on the left, the fold was below the nipple, so that the nipple was sort of flat against the top plate. I hope that's what made it hurt, and not something going on in there.
-------------------------------
I'm now at the old house. I didn't get on the road as soon as I'd wanted to today, but it was good enough, I guess, to get a few things done. I got up here in time to go to the radiology lab and pick up my old mammo films. I'll take them to the new place on Monday.
I went to the DMV and picked up forms to get new copies of the NY titles for my vehicles. I'm sure they're around here somewhere, but I can't find them. I'll need them to register the cars in NJ. There's a problem - NY will send the copies only to the "address of record", which is the old house. I'm having my mail forwarded, and that's working fine, BUT the post office will not forward official government mail. So they will be returned. Duh. The woman at the DMV gave me a number to call to ask how I can get them sent to my new address.
I stopped at the post office to verify that, and yeah, they won't forward them. But she said that they'll be returned with a sticker on them with my new address, so NY should then send them again to the new address.
Uh, yeah, but remember this is the DMV we're talking about. Logic and "makes sense" don't apply.
Then I got Fred the van inspected at an oil change place. The NY inspection expires the end of this month. His serpentine belt is bald, and they told me he couldn't pass inspection with that belt, and they can't fix it. Well, sort of. The mechanic offered to pass him if I gave him "a little extra". It took me a minute to understand what he was saying. I said, "Uh, no, I'd really rather do this legally." Later the manager came to me and said he "has a soft spot for the elderly and disabled" (Fred's a wheelchair van) so they'd pass him anyway, but I'd have to promise to get the belt fixed within the next ten days.
"Elderly?"
So then I went to a Dodge dealership to see if I could get it done tomorrow. They have no open time slots, but want me to call tomorrow and maybe they can squeeze him in.
Then I went to the garage that's working on Suzie (they haven't got to her yet) to get her VIN to order her new title, and to make sure they had my new phone number.
I stopped somewhere else, too, but darned if I can remember where.
Right now I'm watching "Big Bang Theory", and plan to watch "Big Brother" (shame! shame!) later. All that running around after a 2.75 hour drive has left me drained.
--------------------------------
I mentioned I'd started a Meetup dining out group. I was disappointed because it got no action for two days. I didn't realize that Meetup hadn't released it to the public yet. They released it yesterday, and I already have 22 members, and three have RSVP'd to a dinner I scheduled for July 7.
I'm afraid I might see some of the same craziness that drove me away the last time. I clearly stated I wanted to keep it local, even gave a north and south limit. So, one of the new members lives in Manhattan, and has suggested that we meet at some Manhattan restaurants. Sigh. Actually, if she wants to, I guess I could let her host it....
.
Sunday, July 03, 2011
3298 Meetup Capitulation
Sunday, July 3, 2011
I swore I wouldn't do it, but I've waited for six months for a local dinner group, and there are none. So I gave up and started one. I may regret this.
It's at http://www.meetup.com/Keyport-Dining-Out/. I have no idea what the home page looks like, because what I see is the organizer's version of the page.
.
The early bird deserves the worm.
------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------
I swore I wouldn't do it, but I've waited for six months for a local dinner group, and there are none. So I gave up and started one. I may regret this.
It's at http://www.meetup.com/Keyport-Dining-Out/. I have no idea what the home page looks like, because what I see is the organizer's version of the page.
.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
3265 Meetup mess up
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
I was supposed to see the new 3-D Johnny Depp Pirates movie this evening with a Meetup group.
I'm very annoyed because the Meetup was canceled, and nobody notified me! Like nobody has to plan their day?
Just as well. I've got a lot to do, and I agreed to babysit Nugget this afternoon while Daughter does some shopping.
.
Epitaph: This is merely a temporary setback.
----------------------------------
----------------------------------
I was supposed to see the new 3-D Johnny Depp Pirates movie this evening with a Meetup group.
I'm very annoyed because the Meetup was canceled, and nobody notified me! Like nobody has to plan their day?
Just as well. I've got a lot to do, and I agreed to babysit Nugget this afternoon while Daughter does some shopping.
.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
3192 Meeting people
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
I haven't gotten involved with any Meetup groups here, because I've got too many things to do that aren't getting done to go adding more stuff to do. But I have been saving groups that I can check into when things loosen up.
There are a few problems. I put in a distance of 25 miles - but that is "as the bird flys", and so I'm getting alerts for a gazillion groups in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Even though I can see Brooklyn across the bay from my back windows, it's not exactly easy to get there! There's, um, a bay between us!
Second, it seems like four of every five groups more local to me are businesses, not just people who want to share time and events. By businesses, I mean self-help groups where you're supposed to buy the book, or "event coordinators" who get paid to pull people into clubs and shows, or people who are just getting people to pay for some kind of lessons or services. Of the one in five left, they're almost entirely booze/band/bar oriented, mainly it seems because 30 to 80 people or more regularly show up. There don't seem to be any small dinner or movie groups. Are the organizers not aware that they can limit attendance to the first eight or ten who respond?
All I want is a small dinner group. Please please please don't make me organize a group. I am not the organizer type. I've already tested and proven that.
.
If you chase two rabbits, you will not catch either one.
-- Russian Proverb --
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Russian Proverb --
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I haven't gotten involved with any Meetup groups here, because I've got too many things to do that aren't getting done to go adding more stuff to do. But I have been saving groups that I can check into when things loosen up.
There are a few problems. I put in a distance of 25 miles - but that is "as the bird flys", and so I'm getting alerts for a gazillion groups in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Even though I can see Brooklyn across the bay from my back windows, it's not exactly easy to get there! There's, um, a bay between us!
Second, it seems like four of every five groups more local to me are businesses, not just people who want to share time and events. By businesses, I mean self-help groups where you're supposed to buy the book, or "event coordinators" who get paid to pull people into clubs and shows, or people who are just getting people to pay for some kind of lessons or services. Of the one in five left, they're almost entirely booze/band/bar oriented, mainly it seems because 30 to 80 people or more regularly show up. There don't seem to be any small dinner or movie groups. Are the organizers not aware that they can limit attendance to the first eight or ten who respond?
All I want is a small dinner group. Please please please don't make me organize a group. I am not the organizer type. I've already tested and proven that.
.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
2807 Car
Sunday, March 14, 2010
I have selected my car - 2010 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder GT, convertible, manual transmission. You can see it at http://www.mitsubishicars.com/MMNA/jsp/build.do?modelId=100030&loc=en-us - click on the GT.
It doesn't come in maroon, which is what I really want. Either I take it in red, or get a custom paint job. The nearest Mitsubishi dealership is in Poughkeepsie. I still really want the Boxter, but there isn't a Porsche dealer within 50 miles. There used to be one in Poughkeepsie, but it closed when IBM laid off 13,000 people in the mid-90s.
I've been looking at various itty bitty 2-seaters, but the way I intend to use the car, the tiny pretend back seat in the Eclipse would be more useful. It will be my everyday car, not just for occasional flash.
Piper wants to go with me to make the deal. He thinks he could get me a better price than I could on my own. Maybe.
--------------------------------------
I went to a mystery theater dinner this evening. The "plot" was a cruise ship, and we were all passengers. There was a passenger talent show with costumes. Before the play, the "cruise activity director" went around and recruited people to play various parts. She asked me to play the Captain's wife. I turned her down because it involved dancing with the Captain, and my back was too fragile to tempt it. What she didn't mention was that the Captain's wife played Dolly Parton in the talent show. Dolly and I, by the way, wear the same bra size, but it's more spectacular on Dolly because she has a smaller tighter frame, longer legs, and a custom tailor.
They must have wanted me, because I subsequently got recruited for two other parts. Nope, back hurts.
The evening was $45. The salad was excellent, but the buffet consisted of three pasta dishes. Period. You could have pasta with cheese and red sauce, with beef and brown sauce, and/or with chicken and white sauce. Um, I'm not supposed to be eating pasta at all, except for occasional small amounts of whole grain pasta. The lack of creativity was annoying.
It was also annoying that when the guy dropped dead (poisoned), and we were supposed to take a guess as to who did it, there had been NO CLUES WHATSOEVER! The explanation at the end was not supported by anything said earlier. They gave out prizes to the folks who guessed right, and I'm willing to believe they just picked the character who got no more votes than they had gift bags.
Well, it was my first "mystery theater dinner". At least now I know what it's sorta like.
.
We cannot get rid of terrorism by getting rid of terrorists. We must get rid of the conditions that create terrorists.
-- Me --
----------------------------------------
-- Me --
----------------------------------------
I have selected my car - 2010 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder GT, convertible, manual transmission. You can see it at http://www.mitsubishicars.com/
It doesn't come in maroon, which is what I really want. Either I take it in red, or get a custom paint job. The nearest Mitsubishi dealership is in Poughkeepsie. I still really want the Boxter, but there isn't a Porsche dealer within 50 miles. There used to be one in Poughkeepsie, but it closed when IBM laid off 13,000 people in the mid-90s.
I've been looking at various itty bitty 2-seaters, but the way I intend to use the car, the tiny pretend back seat in the Eclipse would be more useful. It will be my everyday car, not just for occasional flash.
Piper wants to go with me to make the deal. He thinks he could get me a better price than I could on my own. Maybe.
--------------------------------------
I went to a mystery theater dinner this evening. The "plot" was a cruise ship, and we were all passengers. There was a passenger talent show with costumes. Before the play, the "cruise activity director" went around and recruited people to play various parts. She asked me to play the Captain's wife. I turned her down because it involved dancing with the Captain, and my back was too fragile to tempt it. What she didn't mention was that the Captain's wife played Dolly Parton in the talent show. Dolly and I, by the way, wear the same bra size, but it's more spectacular on Dolly because she has a smaller tighter frame, longer legs, and a custom tailor.
They must have wanted me, because I subsequently got recruited for two other parts. Nope, back hurts.
The evening was $45. The salad was excellent, but the buffet consisted of three pasta dishes. Period. You could have pasta with cheese and red sauce, with beef and brown sauce, and/or with chicken and white sauce. Um, I'm not supposed to be eating pasta at all, except for occasional small amounts of whole grain pasta. The lack of creativity was annoying.
It was also annoying that when the guy dropped dead (poisoned), and we were supposed to take a guess as to who did it, there had been NO CLUES WHATSOEVER! The explanation at the end was not supported by anything said earlier. They gave out prizes to the folks who guessed right, and I'm willing to believe they just picked the character who got no more votes than they had gift bags.
Well, it was my first "mystery theater dinner". At least now I know what it's sorta like.
.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
2773 Texting Haiti
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Remember when "they" announced that you could text "Haiti" to a particular phone number, and donate $10 to Haiti relief? Well, wait for it. When the month's cell phone bills hit, you'll hear screams all over the country. Spanking will be reinstituted.
A lot of kids were unaware that the $10 would be added to the phone bill. They seemed to think that the money would come from some anonymous corporate benefactor, so they texted the code hundreds of times, proud of their texting skills.
Steel yourselves, parents.
-------------------------
I had dinner last night with the Orange County Outdoor Singles Meetup group, at a new sushi restaurant on the Newburgh riverfront. I guess I shouldn't feel so bad about the no-shows with my groups - 12 people had RSVP'd yes, and only 7 showed up, and this is one of the more popular groups.
We were the only customers, the service and food was terrific (lots of extras), and we were there three hours, having fun.
The topic of tying knots with your tongue in cherry stems came up, and three of us claimed to be able to do it, so we asked the waiter for three stemmed maraschino cherries. The waiter brought a huge bowl full! We all had a chance to try at least three.
I left a little after ten, and the snow, which was supposed to begin after midnight, had already started, light flurries. When I woke this morning, I expected to find several inches, but it looks like about 2, and it's still just flurries. I guess the blizzard will be later today. I hope it'll swing south and east and miss us.
Well, I can hope....
.
In life, unlike chess, the game continues after checkmate.
-- Isaac Asimov --
----------------------------------------
-- Isaac Asimov --
----------------------------------------
Remember when "they" announced that you could text "Haiti" to a particular phone number, and donate $10 to Haiti relief? Well, wait for it. When the month's cell phone bills hit, you'll hear screams all over the country. Spanking will be reinstituted.
A lot of kids were unaware that the $10 would be added to the phone bill. They seemed to think that the money would come from some anonymous corporate benefactor, so they texted the code hundreds of times, proud of their texting skills.
Steel yourselves, parents.
-------------------------
I had dinner last night with the Orange County Outdoor Singles Meetup group, at a new sushi restaurant on the Newburgh riverfront. I guess I shouldn't feel so bad about the no-shows with my groups - 12 people had RSVP'd yes, and only 7 showed up, and this is one of the more popular groups.
We were the only customers, the service and food was terrific (lots of extras), and we were there three hours, having fun.
The topic of tying knots with your tongue in cherry stems came up, and three of us claimed to be able to do it, so we asked the waiter for three stemmed maraschino cherries. The waiter brought a huge bowl full! We all had a chance to try at least three.
I left a little after ten, and the snow, which was supposed to begin after midnight, had already started, light flurries. When I woke this morning, I expected to find several inches, but it looks like about 2, and it's still just flurries. I guess the blizzard will be later today. I hope it'll swing south and east and miss us.
Well, I can hope....
.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
2742 I lived through dinner, then a grue ate me.
Wednesday, January 12, 2010
Last night was the first meetup of my singles' group. Reservations did gradually fall away, so by 6:30 pm I was expecting six women. Four showed up. Two who had said yes did not. I hear that's pretty typical. We also had one man arrive who insisted that he had RSVP'd yes, but neither I nor Meetup had any record of that. No big deal.
The guy was a physicist, and one of the women was a theoretical mathematician, so the conversation somehow started with imaginary numbers, and veered into multiple dimensions and intersections of multidimensional objects , and the nature of time. One of the other women was ... I'm not sure what to call her, but she sees orbs and hears spirits, that sort of thing ... so that conversation occasionally took an odd turn (I'd like to make a joke about "dementional objects", but foo, I've had experiences with ESP and "ghosts", and I believe in a kind of reincarnation, so I can't).
The service was terrible! I had called the restaurant last week to ask if I'd need reservations, and had been told that Tuesday nights were quiet. It wasn't. There was some kind of conference going on in the back room, and when that was over, the participants stayed for dinner. Every table and the bar was full. Then about 8:30, a guy started setting up speakers right next to our table. Uh oh. Turned out it was team trivia, so we played. That was fun.
At leaving, one woman urged me in the parking lot to expand the group to lower ages. Her argument was that men in their fifties and sixties always want women in their thirties and forties. Um, yeah, so what? When an older man wants a younger woman, it's often because he's looking for a nurse, someone to take care of him. Besides, there are plenty of other groups for the younger singles. He can go there. (And if a guy isn't rich or strikingly handsome, he's unlikely to find the trophy caretaker, anyway, and he should know that, and if he doesn't, he's stupid, so why would we want him anyway? But I didn't say that.)
I don't have the faintest idea what to do next. We never got around to talking about that.
-----------------------------------
Does anyone besides me remember Zork? It was a text-based computer game. Jay and I used to play it for hours. He had a huge piece of paper on which he had mapped the underground, with locations of items and dangers.
Gathering weapons and tools and finding your way around is one level of difficulty - figuring out how to talk to the system is the other. It sometimes seems to be very obstinate.
A description, and how to play, are at http://en.allexperts.com/e/z/zo/zork.htm.
You can play it at http://thcnet.net/zork/index.php.
-----------------------------------
This is beautiful(warning - the music may be too loud for work, turn speakers down):
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TT1OX4wSBVg&NR=1&feature=fvwp]
.
"What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson --
---------------------------------------
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson --
---------------------------------------
Last night was the first meetup of my singles' group. Reservations did gradually fall away, so by 6:30 pm I was expecting six women. Four showed up. Two who had said yes did not. I hear that's pretty typical. We also had one man arrive who insisted that he had RSVP'd yes, but neither I nor Meetup had any record of that. No big deal.
The guy was a physicist, and one of the women was a theoretical mathematician, so the conversation somehow started with imaginary numbers, and veered into multiple dimensions and intersections of multidimensional objects , and the nature of time. One of the other women was ... I'm not sure what to call her, but she sees orbs and hears spirits, that sort of thing ... so that conversation occasionally took an odd turn (I'd like to make a joke about "dementional objects", but foo, I've had experiences with ESP and "ghosts", and I believe in a kind of reincarnation, so I can't).
The service was terrible! I had called the restaurant last week to ask if I'd need reservations, and had been told that Tuesday nights were quiet. It wasn't. There was some kind of conference going on in the back room, and when that was over, the participants stayed for dinner. Every table and the bar was full. Then about 8:30, a guy started setting up speakers right next to our table. Uh oh. Turned out it was team trivia, so we played. That was fun.
At leaving, one woman urged me in the parking lot to expand the group to lower ages. Her argument was that men in their fifties and sixties always want women in their thirties and forties. Um, yeah, so what? When an older man wants a younger woman, it's often because he's looking for a nurse, someone to take care of him. Besides, there are plenty of other groups for the younger singles. He can go there. (And if a guy isn't rich or strikingly handsome, he's unlikely to find the trophy caretaker, anyway, and he should know that, and if he doesn't, he's stupid, so why would we want him anyway? But I didn't say that.)
I don't have the faintest idea what to do next. We never got around to talking about that.
-----------------------------------
Does anyone besides me remember Zork? It was a text-based computer game. Jay and I used to play it for hours. He had a huge piece of paper on which he had mapped the underground, with locations of items and dangers.
Gathering weapons and tools and finding your way around is one level of difficulty - figuring out how to talk to the system is the other. It sometimes seems to be very obstinate.
A description, and how to play, are at http://en.allexperts.com/e/z/zo/zork.htm.
You can play it at http://thcnet.net/zork/index.php.
-----------------------------------
This is beautiful(warning - the music may be too loud for work, turn speakers down):
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TT1OX4wSBVg&NR=1&feature=fvwp]
.
Saturday, January 02, 2010
2728 Roosting Eggs Update
Saturday, January 2, 2009
My indy movie group now has 21 members.
The singles group has 21, of whom 15 have indicated an interest in attending our first meetup on 1/12 (4 definite Yes, 11 Maybe; 13 women, 2 men) . Wow. Pretty good. The Maybes might turn to No as we get closer to the date, but that's still pretty good. The only thing that's a tad disappointing is that only 5 members are male, and of those, one lives very far north, and two very far south, so I doubt we'll see much of them. We gotta get more local males.
.
"A friend of mine says that science is an even better means of control than Christianity, because if you don't believe in Christianity, you're simply doomed to burn in a hell you don't think exists, whereas if you don't believe in science, you're presumed to be stupid."
-- Derrick Jensen, in "The Sun", July 2000 --
--------------------------------------------------------
-- Derrick Jensen, in "The Sun", July 2000 --
--------------------------------------------------------
My indy movie group now has 21 members.
The singles group has 21, of whom 15 have indicated an interest in attending our first meetup on 1/12 (4 definite Yes, 11 Maybe; 13 women, 2 men) . Wow. Pretty good. The Maybes might turn to No as we get closer to the date, but that's still pretty good. The only thing that's a tad disappointing is that only 5 members are male, and of those, one lives very far north, and two very far south, so I doubt we'll see much of them. We gotta get more local males.
.
Friday, January 01, 2010
2726 Happy New Year
Friday, January 1, 2010
I did go out last night, but all day it was a tossup.
By noon yesterday, there was (were?) two inches of fluff in the driveway. Two inches is no problem getting up or down the drive. Three inches is difficult, possibly dangerous. Four inches is impossible. The snow had stopped, but more was expected during the night. I checked five different weather prediction sources, and the totals expected by this morning ranged from two to six inches.
So I called the plowman and paid $55 to have two lousy inches plowed. That way, maybe I'd be able to get up the drive at 2 am if three more fell. If it was four more, I could be in big trouble, since I can't leave the car on the road - I have to at least get it past the plow hump and into the driveway.
I was also very angry because the town plow hit my mailbox again, and this time they sprung the side away from the base, and now it won't close at all.
All very discouraging. But in the evening I got dressed anyway, and by damn I looked so good I didn't want to waste it, I'd hate myself if I did, so I went. I figured that if things got complicated, I'd figure it out later.
The party was in Connecticut, an 80 minute drive. It was sponsored by several Meetup singles' groups, at a fire hall, and the cost when I'd registered was only something like $45, which is really cheap for a New Year's Eve party, so I wasn't expecting much.
It was amazing! There were probably 160 people. The male/female distribution was good. The announcement had said "dressy casual, but formal is ok too." There were lots of sequins. I never saw so many skin-tight dresses all in one place! (Um, someone should tell women that when you have back rolls, skin tight is not a good choice.) And lots of pushed-up pouter pigeon breasts. Me, I was pretty well covered in my Assuit dress (the mid-priced soft one, with real silver), but still intriguing because I wore it over a spaghetti-strap long leotard.
The food was terrific: chicken in a beautiful mushroom sauce, tender roast beef carved on command, crab casserole in oyster shells, interesting breads, salad, green beans with pimento, and more. The bar was all free, and it wasn't just wine and beer. They had everything. I had one of my favorite sweet liquors, and they filled the glass to the top. The band was really good. The lead guitarist and singer was a red-headed kid that didn't look more than 16, but he was incredible. He had performed with and was a protege of Les Paul.
I sat at a table with four bawdy broads slightly younger than I, and a younger man. I enjoyed them all.
About 10:30 they did the bachelor auction (the auction was to benefit Ann's Place, a cancer support center). The guy I had my eye on wasn't there, which was disappointing, but there were about 10 others. They were going for like $25 to $75, it was sort of pitiful, so I bought two. I haven't decided whether I'll actually collect on the dates. I consider it a donation.
They had a bunch of other things for auction, too. They went at rock bottom prices because they had not been advertised, so no one had done the research or come prepared to bid on them. There were fancy watches, and jewelry. There were huge framed concert posters that went for maybe $50. The auctioneer was almost crying. "This is a PROOF! A PROOF of the famous poster that goes for $3,000! This is worth twice that!" Well, what's a proof?
I accidentally bought a Gibson Epiphone SG Special electric guitar, that had been signed by Les Paul on his 94th birthday, two months before he died, along with a really fancy soft case, and two photographs of Les Paul signing it. I haven't the faintest idea what I'm going to do with it. The red-headed kid played it after I bought it, and kissed it goodbye. Does anyone know the proper way to store it? Should I loosen the strings?
I probably ought to find a buyer for it. If I wait a few years, it might go for more, but knowing me, I might injure it between now and then.
[Later - I found something online: If storing for more than 4 months, release some but not all of the tension from the strings, and store it in a living-area closet, not an attic or basement.]
At 11:30ish it started to snow, heavily, big flakes. I started to worry, because I would be heading north. But the snow stopped with only a dusting.
At midnight I followed a tradition from my youth, and looked for the oldest guy in the place to kiss. The guy had to be nearing, if not over, ninety, a tiny guy with curly white hair, and I planted one on his cheek. Bad idea. He followed me around after that, kept kissing me on the cheek, and pressed his business card on me. (He's a medical doctor.)
Also after midnight, I finally danced with two of the bawdy broads, and I finally got some male attention. Too late, fellas. Yeah, I gots me some moves, but if that's all that interests you, that doesn't go far.
Got home a little after 2 am. No snow on the driveway.
.
People do not do things for logical reasons.
People find logical reasons to do things they want,
and the more intelligent the people,
the better the reasons they come up with.
-- Harold Nickel, Mensa Bulletin, May 2000 --
-------------------------------
People find logical reasons to do things they want,
and the more intelligent the people,
the better the reasons they come up with.
-- Harold Nickel, Mensa Bulletin, May 2000 --
-------------------------------
I did go out last night, but all day it was a tossup.
By noon yesterday, there was (were?) two inches of fluff in the driveway. Two inches is no problem getting up or down the drive. Three inches is difficult, possibly dangerous. Four inches is impossible. The snow had stopped, but more was expected during the night. I checked five different weather prediction sources, and the totals expected by this morning ranged from two to six inches.
So I called the plowman and paid $55 to have two lousy inches plowed. That way, maybe I'd be able to get up the drive at 2 am if three more fell. If it was four more, I could be in big trouble, since I can't leave the car on the road - I have to at least get it past the plow hump and into the driveway.
I was also very angry because the town plow hit my mailbox again, and this time they sprung the side away from the base, and now it won't close at all.
All very discouraging. But in the evening I got dressed anyway, and by damn I looked so good I didn't want to waste it, I'd hate myself if I did, so I went. I figured that if things got complicated, I'd figure it out later.
The party was in Connecticut, an 80 minute drive. It was sponsored by several Meetup singles' groups, at a fire hall, and the cost when I'd registered was only something like $45, which is really cheap for a New Year's Eve party, so I wasn't expecting much.
It was amazing! There were probably 160 people. The male/female distribution was good. The announcement had said "dressy casual, but formal is ok too." There were lots of sequins. I never saw so many skin-tight dresses all in one place! (Um, someone should tell women that when you have back rolls, skin tight is not a good choice.) And lots of pushed-up pouter pigeon breasts. Me, I was pretty well covered in my Assuit dress (the mid-priced soft one, with real silver), but still intriguing because I wore it over a spaghetti-strap long leotard.
The food was terrific: chicken in a beautiful mushroom sauce, tender roast beef carved on command, crab casserole in oyster shells, interesting breads, salad, green beans with pimento, and more. The bar was all free, and it wasn't just wine and beer. They had everything. I had one of my favorite sweet liquors, and they filled the glass to the top. The band was really good. The lead guitarist and singer was a red-headed kid that didn't look more than 16, but he was incredible. He had performed with and was a protege of Les Paul.
I sat at a table with four bawdy broads slightly younger than I, and a younger man. I enjoyed them all.
About 10:30 they did the bachelor auction (the auction was to benefit Ann's Place, a cancer support center). The guy I had my eye on wasn't there, which was disappointing, but there were about 10 others. They were going for like $25 to $75, it was sort of pitiful, so I bought two. I haven't decided whether I'll actually collect on the dates. I consider it a donation.
They had a bunch of other things for auction, too. They went at rock bottom prices because they had not been advertised, so no one had done the research or come prepared to bid on them. There were fancy watches, and jewelry. There were huge framed concert posters that went for maybe $50. The auctioneer was almost crying. "This is a PROOF! A PROOF of the famous poster that goes for $3,000! This is worth twice that!" Well, what's a proof?
I accidentally bought a Gibson Epiphone SG Special electric guitar, that had been signed by Les Paul on his 94th birthday, two months before he died, along with a really fancy soft case, and two photographs of Les Paul signing it. I haven't the faintest idea what I'm going to do with it. The red-headed kid played it after I bought it, and kissed it goodbye. Does anyone know the proper way to store it? Should I loosen the strings?
I probably ought to find a buyer for it. If I wait a few years, it might go for more, but knowing me, I might injure it between now and then.
[Later - I found something online: If storing for more than 4 months, release some but not all of the tension from the strings, and store it in a living-area closet, not an attic or basement.]
At 11:30ish it started to snow, heavily, big flakes. I started to worry, because I would be heading north. But the snow stopped with only a dusting.
At midnight I followed a tradition from my youth, and looked for the oldest guy in the place to kiss. The guy had to be nearing, if not over, ninety, a tiny guy with curly white hair, and I planted one on his cheek. Bad idea. He followed me around after that, kept kissing me on the cheek, and pressed his business card on me. (He's a medical doctor.)
Also after midnight, I finally danced with two of the bawdy broads, and I finally got some male attention. Too late, fellas. Yeah, I gots me some moves, but if that's all that interests you, that doesn't go far.
Got home a little after 2 am. No snow on the driveway.
.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
2556 It's Meetup, damn it! Not Hookup!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
I joined several Meetup groups, mostly travel, movie, and dinner groups. They are just to get out and meet up with some people to do things as a group. There ARE Meetup groups specifically for singles, for the purpose of meeting and exploring romantic possibilities, but that's not what I'm there for, and not the groups I joined.
Some guys seem confused. I've been getting regular mash notes and invitations from strange men. They can look at your profile and see your picture and what groups you've signed up for. One guy noticed I'd joined a few travel groups, so he wrote (through the site) and suggested that he take me somewhere for a weekend. Another has invited me to a movie in Rhinebeck (the next village down) - even though he lives in Manhattan. One young man in Albany, in his early 20s, invited me to go dancing. And so on.
Hey, guys - it's not an online dating site! What makes you think I'm looking to hook up? In fact, in my profile, I included a photo of me with The Man.
A more subtle way to approach it, if you see someone interesting, would be to watch what meetups they RSVP for, and then go to the same meetup. That way you meet in a group. Introduce yourself. Chat. See if she or he is open to overtures. Then maybe something might develop.
Some people might see that as stalking, I guess. I don't.
.
Definition: Perfluxity - the feeling that
you are drowning in a sea of information.
------------------------
you are drowning in a sea of information.
------------------------
I joined several Meetup groups, mostly travel, movie, and dinner groups. They are just to get out and meet up with some people to do things as a group. There ARE Meetup groups specifically for singles, for the purpose of meeting and exploring romantic possibilities, but that's not what I'm there for, and not the groups I joined.
Some guys seem confused. I've been getting regular mash notes and invitations from strange men. They can look at your profile and see your picture and what groups you've signed up for. One guy noticed I'd joined a few travel groups, so he wrote (through the site) and suggested that he take me somewhere for a weekend. Another has invited me to a movie in Rhinebeck (the next village down) - even though he lives in Manhattan. One young man in Albany, in his early 20s, invited me to go dancing. And so on.
Hey, guys - it's not an online dating site! What makes you think I'm looking to hook up? In fact, in my profile, I included a photo of me with The Man.
A more subtle way to approach it, if you see someone interesting, would be to watch what meetups they RSVP for, and then go to the same meetup. That way you meet in a group. Introduce yourself. Chat. See if she or he is open to overtures. Then maybe something might develop.
Some people might see that as stalking, I guess. I don't.
.
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
2531 Three days?
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
I haven't updated in a while. I've been busy moving archived emails from AOL to Gmail, and in the process, I'm rereading them. Fascinating. And we've had a few days without rain, so I've been walking. I'm still eating under 1,000 balanced calories per day in five or six "meals", but I'm still stuck at 10 pounds lost and 15 or 20 to go, so every day it's not raining, I walk.
I'm going to a Meetup movie and dinner tonight in Albany. We're to meet in the theater lobby at 6:00, and I don't know exactly where it is, or what rush hour traffic might be like. The GPS says the drive should take an hour, so I figure just to be safe, I've got to leave here a little after 4.
It's not raining, so I want to get a walk in before washing my hair and dressing.
Bye.
------------------------------------
A few minutes later: Wow! Google maps is helpful! The GPS would get me there, but I still wondered where I was going, so I looked it up.
Then I looked at the street view, and my heart fell. The theater fronts on a street full of businesses, with a store abutting on each side. Albany is famous for parking difficulty. I didn't see any sign of a parking lot or lot entrance next to the theater.
So I looked at the satellite view. Bingo! There's a large parking lot immediately behind the theater reached by turning in at the next side street.
GPS wouldn't have told me that.
.
T.S. Eliot: "Some editors are failed writers,
but so are most writers".
-----------------------------------------
but so are most writers".
-----------------------------------------
I haven't updated in a while. I've been busy moving archived emails from AOL to Gmail, and in the process, I'm rereading them. Fascinating. And we've had a few days without rain, so I've been walking. I'm still eating under 1,000 balanced calories per day in five or six "meals", but I'm still stuck at 10 pounds lost and 15 or 20 to go, so every day it's not raining, I walk.
I'm going to a Meetup movie and dinner tonight in Albany. We're to meet in the theater lobby at 6:00, and I don't know exactly where it is, or what rush hour traffic might be like. The GPS says the drive should take an hour, so I figure just to be safe, I've got to leave here a little after 4.
It's not raining, so I want to get a walk in before washing my hair and dressing.
Bye.
------------------------------------
A few minutes later: Wow! Google maps is helpful! The GPS would get me there, but I still wondered where I was going, so I looked it up.
Then I looked at the street view, and my heart fell. The theater fronts on a street full of businesses, with a store abutting on each side. Albany is famous for parking difficulty. I didn't see any sign of a parking lot or lot entrance next to the theater.
So I looked at the satellite view. Bingo! There's a large parking lot immediately behind the theater reached by turning in at the next side street.
GPS wouldn't have told me that.
.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
2449 The weekend
Sunday, June 22, 2009
Catching up:
Friday evening I went to a "dinema" in Beacon. That's dinner and cinema. Sorta like dinner theater, but with movie instead of play. They showed the movie between the entree and dessert.
There were 17 in our group, and the movie was a 1966 British farce (of the "Carry On" tradition) called "Don't lose Your Head". It was a parody of "The Scarlet Pimpernel".
I felt odd. Most movies I've seen over the past few years, I've been alone or with Mensans. And yeah, sometimes we laugh at things nobody else laughs at. About a third of the way into the movie, I was aware that I was not with Mensans. I, all by myself, laughed at stuff that no one else laughed at, and those were the things I laughed hardest at. I guess no one else got some of the jokes - subtle puns and historical references. Strange. I didn't expect that. They must have thought I was nuts. On the other hand, they laughed at the physical comedy, and I didn't.
I didn't get home until the wee hours, and then had to get going on Saturday to meet The Man in Fishkill. He'd got us an apartment. Kitchen, living room, dining room, bathroom downstairs, and another bathroom and a bedroom upstairs, on a balcony overlooking the living room. I was almost an hour late meeting him because the traffic was so bad.
Friday night and Saturday morning's traffic was worse than I've ever seen it in this area. It used to take me an hour to get to Beacon or Fishkill. Both of those trips took more than an hour and a half. I don't understand.
Anyway, The Man and I had dinner and then went to the Shakespeare festival at Boscobel:
The play was not the usual Shakespearean fare. It was "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged". It's a specialty of this troupe, performed by three actors and a prop mistress. They cover the highlights of many of the major plays, with lightning costume changes, and a complete disregard for the script, even combining a few things in the interest of time, if not clarity, and often involving the audience in the action. It's a riot.
The last play was Romeo and Juliet, and they covered the whole story in minutes, with wigs and skirts and swords flying. Then, they said they could do it faster, so they did. Then a third time even faster. Then they did a super fast version - backward! Even the dialog ("listen for the satanic messages").***
It was enjoyable, but we can't claim we went to a Shakespearean play....
Today we went out for lunch, and then to a movie. We saw "Up". The Man had mentioned two weeks ago that he wanted to see it, but couldn't find any kids to take him to it. (He was about ready to kidnap a kid in the mall to have an excuse to go.) I promised him I'd try to be a kid.
It was pretty good, actually. The Man was disappointed because it wasn't 3D in the theater in Fishkill (hey, we're the boonies!), but I'm not sure I could have handled it in 3D. I have a problem with edges (not height, really, just edges with drops), and at least five times during the movie I got that rubbery feeling in the back of my knees and had to close my eyes.
So, now I'm home.
---------------------
***Later edit - Oops. It was Hamlet that was last, that they did over, faster, and then backwards.
.
Abraham Lincoln: "My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure."
---------------------------
---------------------------
Catching up:
Friday evening I went to a "dinema" in Beacon. That's dinner and cinema. Sorta like dinner theater, but with movie instead of play. They showed the movie between the entree and dessert.
There were 17 in our group, and the movie was a 1966 British farce (of the "Carry On" tradition) called "Don't lose Your Head". It was a parody of "The Scarlet Pimpernel".
I felt odd. Most movies I've seen over the past few years, I've been alone or with Mensans. And yeah, sometimes we laugh at things nobody else laughs at. About a third of the way into the movie, I was aware that I was not with Mensans. I, all by myself, laughed at stuff that no one else laughed at, and those were the things I laughed hardest at. I guess no one else got some of the jokes - subtle puns and historical references. Strange. I didn't expect that. They must have thought I was nuts. On the other hand, they laughed at the physical comedy, and I didn't.
I didn't get home until the wee hours, and then had to get going on Saturday to meet The Man in Fishkill. He'd got us an apartment. Kitchen, living room, dining room, bathroom downstairs, and another bathroom and a bedroom upstairs, on a balcony overlooking the living room. I was almost an hour late meeting him because the traffic was so bad.
Friday night and Saturday morning's traffic was worse than I've ever seen it in this area. It used to take me an hour to get to Beacon or Fishkill. Both of those trips took more than an hour and a half. I don't understand.
Anyway, The Man and I had dinner and then went to the Shakespeare festival at Boscobel:
The play was not the usual Shakespearean fare. It was "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged". It's a specialty of this troupe, performed by three actors and a prop mistress. They cover the highlights of many of the major plays, with lightning costume changes, and a complete disregard for the script, even combining a few things in the interest of time, if not clarity, and often involving the audience in the action. It's a riot.
The last play was Romeo and Juliet, and they covered the whole story in minutes, with wigs and skirts and swords flying. Then, they said they could do it faster, so they did. Then a third time even faster. Then they did a super fast version - backward! Even the dialog ("listen for the satanic messages").***
It was enjoyable, but we can't claim we went to a Shakespearean play....
Today we went out for lunch, and then to a movie. We saw "Up". The Man had mentioned two weeks ago that he wanted to see it, but couldn't find any kids to take him to it. (He was about ready to kidnap a kid in the mall to have an excuse to go.) I promised him I'd try to be a kid.
It was pretty good, actually. The Man was disappointed because it wasn't 3D in the theater in Fishkill (hey, we're the boonies!), but I'm not sure I could have handled it in 3D. I have a problem with edges (not height, really, just edges with drops), and at least five times during the movie I got that rubbery feeling in the back of my knees and had to close my eyes.
So, now I'm home.
---------------------
***Later edit - Oops. It was Hamlet that was last, that they did over, faster, and then backwards.
.
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