preferences...

this cute guy checked me out on yahoo today. i looked at his profile, noted that he's traveled to "Singapore, Beijing, Sri Lanka, Prague, Hungary, and Kiev, and look for any opportunity to visit new cultures and places," and see that he says "I've traveled a fair amount and enjoy exploring new perspectives. "

then i look at the list of ethnicity types he'd consider for his "Ideal Woman:"
Asian, Caucasian (white), East Indian, Hispanic/Latino, Middle Eastern, Native American, Pacific Islander, Inter-racial, Other.

then I look at the list of possible ethnicities one could check:
African American (black), Asian, Caucasian (white), East Indian, Hispanic/Latino, Middle Eastern, Native American, Pacific Islander, Inter-racial, Other, Any.

so basically this well-educated ("post graduate"), well-traveled caucasian guy is open to every race or racial combination except African American (black), which also prevents him from choosing "any".

ok. everyone is entitled to their own preferences in terms of physical attraction, people they think they have things in common with, etc. but i can't tell you how many examples of this phenomenon i've seen since i've lived in san diego. i rarely, if ever, saw such lists when i lived in the bay area. i guess i've thought of CA as being more multicultural and people being more openminded here. maybe it doesn't apply to san diego, maybe it's a yahoo thing, i don't know. but it definitely irks me as it's basically a way of saying "anything but black." as an interracial person, i suppose one could argue i'm "acceptable" to this guy, but i wouldn't really want to even meet someone who set their priorities that way. for me, if someone is white and they specify just white, or black and they specify just black in terms of what they're looking for, i can get my head around that. like i said, people have preferences. but i feel there is something rather prejudicial about someone who says "anything but."

this issue has been bugging me for a while, but since it just happened again and i don't think i've ever written about it, well, here you go. end of rant.

~md

...and the unluckiest of circumstances...

date was set for noon sunday to watch the 1:15 game.

at 12:21 on sunday, thinking for sure i was being stood up, i receive the following text message:

"I separated my shoulder. In the hospital."

Poor guy! I replied, asking if there's anything I can do...

So we shall see. Hope he's OK! Oy. ~md

in the unlikeliest of places...

so, at risk of sounding like a sitcom or (worse) something from the "letters" section of an adult magazine or something...

on monday, my refrigerator decided to stop working. so after a minor meltdown about that (pun intended), i called whirlpool to schedule an appointment for service. they said thursday, i said OK; i asked for morning, they said the window was 8a-5p but they'd request morning for me.

i received a call around 8:30 on thursday morning saying my service technician would arrive around 9:30. so i stayed in my PJs for a while (had worked really late the night before), tidied up the kitchen, made coffee, settled in to do some work at home, and waited. the technician called just before 10a, apologizing for being late, his last call took longer than expected, and said he'd be to my place in about 15 minutes. at 10:35, I called him back to ensure he wasn't lost. sure enough, he was pulling into my driveway so i let him in. he pulled the refrigerator out, looked over a bunch of things, isolated the problem area, and explained to me what was going on. In the way that a helpful and honest automobile repair person might explain something -- not assuming because I'm female I don't know anything but actually helping me understand. he had this cool computer that had all the parts and you could zoom in and show how they work in relation to each other.

he noticed on my fridge that i have an eagles football schedule, so he asked if i was an eagles fan and if i was he was sorry for me. then it was on -- lots of good trash talking about football (he's a detroit lions fan), talk about where we're from (i have family in michigan and he has friends in philly), what we think about san diego. he tried to track down the part he needed to repair my fridge but couldn't find it in town, so he had to order it. "would you like me to come back and install it?" he asked, to which I replied "well, yeah!" perhaps a little too enthusiastically. then i added "and while you are at it, see that big box over there? you can also install my HD cable box when you come back!" he said that he'd be more than happy to do so. he gave me the total for the bill, explained how to request that he install the part once it arrives, and then left shortly thereafter. so i had a feeling i'd see him again, one way or another.

so i leave my house and drive about a mile, and coming from the other direction, who pulls up beside me but my new friend-slash-repair guy. so, boldly, i call him and ask why he's following me. he suggests that perhaps i was following him. the flirty banter goes on for a few minutes and he offers to come back to my house to hook up the cable box. i explain that i'm heading into work, but maybe over the weekend. then i get a brilliant idea: i'd love to watch the patriots-colts game in HD in the comfort of my own home...he likes football...so i text him "maybe you can come by on sunday to hook up my HD box and we can watch Brady vs Manning?" he replies, "sounds good to me," and now i have a date on sunday afternoon with the man who is going to fix my refrigerator.

let's keep the silly jokes about what else he might fix to a minimum, people.

but did i mention he's adorable? : )

will let y'all know how it goes! ~md