My best mate/climbing buddy met a woman who seemed OK… until she started to reveal that she was a fairly committed member of a cult and was hoping he would also join. This would have involved him going on a weekend retreat where he would wear a cotton smock and leave his watch and everything personal at home, then standing up and admitting to some past mistake, at which they would all attack him and reduce him to a snivelling wreck then rebuild him with love in their way. From then on he would have to give 10% of his salary to the cult.

I was already worried that he might be thinking of going along with all this, then he mentioned that her previous boyfriend had become so messed up by it all that he had killed himself. Happily his sensible old self asserted itself and he gave her a swift heave-ho and we went climbing instead.

Love the way people jump to conclusions over the single mum comment if it allows them to display their moral outrage.
Nothing against single mums, as the present Mrs MTG can verify.
Nothing against anyone who stays in a hostel. A former Mrs MTG had to stay in one with her two kids at one time and spent two days cleaning the place when she first moved in, so I can see why someone might take a tent as an alternative.
Nothing against people who live in tents. Speaks With Her Dead Mum grrl was living on the road in her car when I met her.

It was the “Just another…” bit, not the “Single mum” bit that put me off.
You know when you are looking on dating sites and you get the “I like going out and staying in” ones. The ones who like “Going for walks and curling up on the settee with a good film”.
You know, the ones you just skim over looking for someone with a bit of character.
Well, it was like that, but in real life.

Oh, and the fell runner was OK.
It was a race over all the 3000ft peaks in Wales.
I think it was about 45km, except that he was one of only two runners doing the double, about 90km.
He set off a bit later than planned, so it was almost inevitable that it would be dark by the time he finished.
Given that, plus his ability, experience, equipment and previous marshal sightings, the balance of probabilities was that he would be OK.
A vague claim that he was moving slowly was not enough to convince me of any clairvoyant abilities.

So she was actually right then. You could have at least got to know her well enough to ask her mum for the lottery numbers.

Some people attract ‘types’. Either mutually or one-way.

My bestmate always seemed to go out with girls who had serious childhood issues. They’d be normal for a month then suddenly whoaa.

Same with girls and loser boyfriends (cant see where they are going wrong??)

OP is this you? 😉

Same with girls and loser boyfriends (cant see where they are going wrong??)

I think there’s a lot of ‘I’m the one who can make him change his ways’ going on with that situation.

You know when you are looking on dating sites and you get the “I like going out and staying in” ones. The ones who like “Going for walks and curling up on the settee with a good film”.
You know, the ones you just skim over looking for someone with a bit of character.

Yeah, those fell running marshall types are real losers, get off your arse and run yourself, you fat cow!

Anyone who puts their interests as nice pub lunches, walks and curling up watching DVD’s should be shot.

Why not add breathing air, operating a cooker and wearing socks.

Also – on dating sites, pictures of girls holding a glass of alcohol, holding a cat, holding a child (wtf). Who am I dating you or the child?

Why not add breathing air, operating a cooker and wearing socks.

that sounds suspiciously like multi-tasking so it’s not blokes writing it.

“Standing up and admitting to some past mistake, at which they would all attack him and reduce him to a snivelling wreck”
So . . . just like STW then? 😉

Hora, what are you doing on dating sites?

I’m not. If I was the pictures of a girl would include a ‘cat’, well it’d be a word play on a cat… 8)

Anyone who puts their interests as nice pub lunches, walks and curling up watching DVD’s should be shot.

Why not add breathing air, operating a cooker and wearing socks.

Also – on dating sites, pictures of girls holding a glass of alcohol, holding a cat, holding a child (wtf). Who am I dating you or the child?

I think this is the most insightful and spot-on post of Hora’s entire career.

Anyone who puts their interests as nice pub lunches, walks and curling up watching DVD’s should be shot.

Can’t resist.

Why? Maybe someone has spent too many years with the wrong person trying to live up to expectations, pretending to be a fell runner or giving two hoots about suspension forks, when all they want to do at the weekend is a pleasant country stroll to the pub, some lunch then back to curl up in front of a film. Personally I find this an ace way to spend a day with my wife and kids…

…provided I can razz my bike around another day 🙂

Exactly what he’s saying.

Why not add breathing air, operating a cooker and wearing socks.

They are supposed to be listing their interests!

They are supposed to be listing their interests!

Those might be their only interests. They might have nothing else in their life other than that walk that they look forward to at the weekend and settling on the sofa on a Saturday night to watch Strictly. There are plenty of people out there like that. If that puts you off, it’s done the job, so I’m not sure why it’s seen as a bad thing. I’d rather that than someone pretend they’re into something they’re not just to spread their dating net wider.

Maybe my view would be as jaded as Hora’s if I’d spent time on these dating sites. I might have a look later 🙂

Those might be their only interests.

Then they must DIE! 🙂

You’ll just find pics of hora holding a cat

^is that a euphemism for something I don’t want to see? 😯

Hello my dears

My name is Ernst Stavro Blofeld. My interests are settling on the sofa with my cat and watching The X Factor…

…and World domination

I’m going to nominate this as my ‘favourite thread of the year’.

Unless I see a better one before the end of December.

Wow, it’s amazing isn’t it.

All the blokes I have “nearly” got involved with have ended up going on to glowing careers as Astronauts, Nobel Prize Winners, Rhodes Scholars, Directors of Fortune 500 corporations etc. One of them was in the Navy Seals team who staged the raid that captured and killed Osama Bin Laden, then trained as a surgeon and performed open heart surgery on himself.

You must be on the wrong dating sites, MTG.

All the blokes I have “nearly” got involved with have ended up going on to glowing careers as Astronauts, Nobel Prize Winners, Rhodes Scholars, Directors of Fortune 500 corporations etc. One of them was in the Navy Seals team who staged the raid that captured and killed Osama Bin Laden, then trained as a surgeon and performed open heart surgery on himself.

ah. STW singles thread!

The best you can hope for is to find one who’s madness is compatible with your own.

Definitely agree with this. So much so that we found an apt reading for my wedding that mentioned it!

Loving The Wrong Person by Andrew Boyd

We’re all seeking that special person who is right for us. 
But if you’ve been through enough relationships, 
you begin to suspect there’s no right person, 
just different flavors of wrong.

Why is this? 
Because you yourself are wrong in some way, 
and you seek out partners who are wrong in some complementary way.
But it takes a lot of living to grow fully into your own wrongness.

It isn’t until you finally run up against your deepest demons, 
your unsolvable problems – the ones that make you truly who you are – 
that you’re ready to find a life-long mate. 
Only then do you finally know what you’re looking for.

You’re looking for the wrong person. 
But not just any wrong person: 
the right wrong person – someone you lovingly gaze upon and think,
“This is the problem I want to have.”

^lovely. Really lovely

I think this is the most only insightful and spot-on post of Hora’s entire career.

“gregarious” is quite a prolific word on female dating profiles and usually means they have several cats.

“gregarious” is quite a prolific word on female dating profiles and usually means they have several cats.

Or several dating profiles 😉