I can't believe I did this...
 

I joined Match.com...............UGH!!!!!!!!! Anyone else have any experience with "on line dating"? :worried:

hot pastrami and brigliadore connected there, IIRC. good luck.

You have to do a lot of sorting.

I read that some people are suing Match.com (and Yahoo's dating service, whoever they are) for "leading" them on---ie when subscribers monthly due was about up they would give the subscriber a few "hits" on their profile to entice them to re-up for the next month. The hits were totally bogus. A man is saying that Match.com sent him on a date with a Match.com employee to keep his hopes up and his monthly fee rolling in. That was in yesterday's paper, I believe.

I've heard both good things and bad about it. Bottom line, I don't think its much different than meeting someone in a bar. They have on their nicest outfit, say all the well rehearsed lines, etc, etc. Its still up to you to weed out the players from the real ones or visa versa depending on what you're looking for.

I had a date with a girl from there. It was so incredibly awkward it wasn't funny. Before then I was very timid about flirting or asking girls out in real life. Guess what? I'm pretty much cured.

Talk about 'flight to wellness'. Great way to break a fear.

I gave it a go for a while. I'd agree with the weeding out of duds, and say you should meet sooner rather than later - it stops you building a whole fantasy relationship on email/chat/phone calls.

My Aunt met a guy on Match.com - he just came up here to Alaska with her for my grandma's 80th birthday. She did have to do some weeding though. There was one guy that she went out on one lunch date with, and he started stalking her after that.
Weeeeird!!

Of course you could try dating within the Cellar. I certainly know a lot (in some cases too much) about the people here.

I think Bruce and Brian are free.http://www.cellar.org/images/smilies/love.gif

I hope you were honest and told them you like the "young stuff" :D

I'm free, Brian's highly discounted. ;)

How much with the senior citizen's discount?

What are you implying about itsjulie, grant? :wink:

Or maybe it's what he's implying about Bruce.http://www.cellar.org/images/smilies/lol.gif

Yes, this is NUTS. And time consuming! I met this guy last week (yes, my sister and her husband were in the background - he never knew it!)...his picture looked great, we talked on AIM and emails....THEN WE MET.

His picture had to be AT LEAST five years old. I about shit myself silly. :-0

the ol' bait & switch

I can't join internet dating sites as I have no plastic :(

Every now & then I join the free trial period & then get frustrated when I can't make the first move - I have to include a carefully worded hint about my hotmail address & then find my inbox fills up with mails from men I am not interested in.

Its a toughie. I know that if I had seen an internet dating profile of the last 3 men I was involved with, I wouldn't have been in the slightest bit interested. But because I met them & was in their company for a while, I fell head over heels in lust (can't say love - it didn't last).

Online I judge a man too much on how he expresses himself in writing and on his picture. I'm sure there are wonderful, witty, intelligent, articulate men who don't really do themselves any favours on email. And personally I don't give a fig about looks in real life (even if its a really big fig, and I'm really hungry).

Still, at least this has reminded me to check all the sites I previously logged onto to check my profiles are disabled!

Good luck & keep us up to date. And if you are contacted by anyone interested in a long distance relationship feel free to pass on my details ;)

But a lot of guys (read me), prefer real breasts. :blush:

Ah well in that case.....
(me at my best friend's wedding)

Sundae Girl, that hat is soooooo cute! Honey, you look like Di! (If Di had had a rack, that is!) :)

I'd just like to point out that Jacquelita and I did hook up online (how else am I going to get that done?) And we are still at it, so the online process was very successful for us.

We both did go through various unsuccessful dates... both of us turned down other online people, and got turned down by other online people, before meeting each other.

Uh...er....nice watch. :redface:

SG, dear...I don't know if you noticed this or not, but your best friend looks like she wishes she had your balcony, at least for her wedding day.

SG - Great pic! Get some plastic, and the boys will come! A friend of mine is also on the same service, we traded boys last night, like go fish. This guy was too tall for me, gave him to her, she winked at him and they are meeting! Great fun!!!!

is that what they mean by revolving credit?

SG: Quelle decolletage! :love:

Actually it was a surprise for me on the day.

I bought the dress the day before flying out there (Siena, Italy) and had only tried it on with 1 bra. For the wedding I had packed a Wonderbra... I have had to hide some of the photos from my Mum, who would think it was unseemly!

An aside: I've just been turned down on a new mobile phone contract because I don't have a credit or debit card to make the inital payment. Despite having been with my current supplier for 5 years i.e. an established bill-paying phone user.

The social lives of people without plastic just don't seem to run as smoothly. I expect to be single for the next 20 years years & end up owning 12 cats and ranting about the credit-nazis.......

No,no. That's my gig. I called it about five years ago...

Can I at least subscribe? No, damnit I can't use PayPal!
Would it help if I took my socks off too?

I think if we slowly start assimilating to the crazy cat-lady lifestyle now, we'll be ahead of the inevitable rush. I'm going to start with my feet and work my way up, hence the 'no socks' thing. Soon, I'll quit with shoes and build impressive callouses up on my feet--till they're nearly hoof-like. Then, I'll quit shaving my legs and start collecting odd sweatshirts and pants from Good Will (Oxfam, for you) to build up my wardrobe. I'm pretty sure I'll need a food-spattered cardigan, too...

Hey, it works for me... ;)

"unseemly" :D

I agree with Elspode--your friend looks a bit green.

sundae grl, you don't need credit to have plastic! you can get a debit card from most banks and use it just like a credit card- except it's coming from money you already have in your bank account. You know?

Debit card online is VERY risky. :eyebrow:

Okay, maybe she could set up a bank account with a debit card specifically for use with online purchasing. She could keep a maximum of $50 in the account at all times.
That could work, right?

Yes, even with a VISA logo.
A debit card gives someone the opportunity to tap directly into your bank account for as often as they want. They can clean you out with very little trouble.
The bank will investigate if you've been screwed but that can take forever and in the meantime you're broke. If it's for a service rather than merchandise how do you prove you didn't get what you paid for?
A credit card will investigate and you don't have to pay disputed charges in the meantime. A credit card will give you a lot of legal protections that a debit card won't, so never give a debit card number to anyone that you can't get your hands on their throat.
Ask your bank. :eyebrow:

I use my Visa Debit Card online quite a bit. I did have a problem where someone got my number and charged about 1,000 to my account.

I have to say my bank was great. I filled out the paperwork and had my money returned to me within 10 days. I think the best way is the suggestion to have a separate account with only minimal $$ in the account and get online SG!!!! We can exchange horror stories (and boys) !!!!!

I know some people who would say this is redundant . . . .

Sorry to hijack - I got myself into credit trouble about 3 years ago (a financial hangover from living above my means in London). I have NO credit rating. I managed to sort myself out by working over 60 hours a week & with the help of a Christian charity who negotiated with my creditors & set up a repayment scheme (something I was too ashamed & scared to do).

I now have no credit whatsover - no cards, catalogues, overdraft, loans etc. The downside is, in my time of trouble I messed about with 2 banks & am now on the most basic no-credit-check account. All my own fault, but no prospect of plastic for at least 2 years.

But back to the O/T - I met a very interesting man today who has aske dme to meet him tomorrow!!! Excuse the exclamation marks - but YAY ME!!!!

YAY, Sundae Girl!!! Who-HOO!!!!!!

You will tell us how it goes, right? :)

I don't know about banks in the UK, but in the US they have something called a "secured" credit card. What it means is you're not actually getting credit at all--you give them $500 or whatever, and then you get a card with a $500 credit "limit." Hit your limit and don't pay the balance, and they just keep your original $500. Keep purchases reasonable and pay them off every month, and you can get your $500 back at any time--and meanwhile, you'll be demonstrating that you're trustworthy and building good credit a lot faster than just waiting for it to fade into the past.

Met the intersting man today - I think he was just interested in my "contacts" in the entertainment business. Which are really just an old friend who is doing quite well for himself, but doesn't really have any pull outside his own position, and a couple struggling actors who can't even help themselves.

He took my number, but I won't be gutted if he doesn't call.

Clodfobble - will look into the secure card idea. Would be nice to book cinema tickets in advance again!

Debit card on your bank account? Or is that in negative balance? It's a real bummer when you drop out of the banking system ....

My account is a non credit-checked one, so all I have is a cashpoint card. In order to get a debit card I'd have to be credit-checked, which at present will still bring up all the mess I was in previously. I assume I would be declined and haven't the guts to try...

It's safe paying in cash, until I develop good habits. But it's frustrating too.