Sunday night date

I got home from Louisville about 12p.m. and spent some time unwinding and packing. I wasn't planning on going out, but I did.

I have been chatting with Greg for 2-3 months. He is 36, 5'11'', brown hair, and I think his profile says 150lbs or so. We met on connexion and had chatted about once a week or so on Yahoo Messenger. We chatted on the phone the 2nd day we knew each other for about 2-3 hours talking about life and what our plans are. He is a pretty laid back, anti-technology (cell phone, texting, iPod, etc.), he is conservative with money, have alot of similar thinking as far as money, and so this gave us lots to talk about. I talked to him 2-3 times back in Louisville last week. He was telling me about an alright date he had and somehow the conversation lead to sex. I was telling him how horny I was and we talked about sex and things like that.

Fast forward, skipping a few details, and it is 3:45p.m. yesterday. I get an e-mail saying that I had a new message on connexion. I decide to check it out. It was from Greg. I told him I had no problem driving down to Irvine to meet him and he said he would be interested in going to a bar down there on their gay night. I happened to be in front of the computer at that time, but not wanting to appear desperate or overly excited I waited a while to message him on Yahoo. I message him about 4:30 and he asked if I checked my connexion e-mail. I told him I had and that I would love to. We decided to meet at 7:30 at the California Pizza Kitchen at the Irvine Spectrum. He wanted to have a while to fit a workout in at the 24 Hour Fitness there. Sure, that was perfect because I got an hour to nap before going since I just got back from Louisville and my sleep is all messed up now. I wanted to go since we'd talked about meeting before, but it was always one of these days, and though I was tired I wasn't going to pass this opportunity up.

I make it down there in about 37 minutes. Made GREAT time with almost no traffic. I park over by the Target, but then think to myself I park here when I go to the Apple Store and I had no clue where the CPK was. I get in my car and go back to the parking structure in the front. I park and then walk down toward the 24 Hour Fitness that I knew he was at. It was 7:18 or so and almost dark. I get down the stairs of the parking structure and see a guy wearing blue jeans, a blue t-shirt, and gray Vans. He has sort of a petite frame for a 5'11'' guy, which kind of reminds me of myself. I do a double take and think that is him. I had seen pictures of him with and without his goatee. He was without. I eye him and he eyes me. We walk past each other, turn around, then he asked if I was Mike. I said yes and we introduced ourselves. He was carrying his shoes and other stuff from his workout. We walk into the parking structure and back to his car so he can put his stuff way. We talk about going to the Apple Store since I wanted to see the new iPods. He talked about how he doesn't have one, has no plans on getting one, and told 2 women off at work whose iPods were stolen.

I wasn't sure where the Apple Store was from where the CPK/24 Hour Fitness was. We look on the map and talk about things like the economy as we walk down there. He was talking about Wet Seal filing for bankruptcy and we talked about the different stores and places that have or are. In the Apple Store I show him the iPods and how they work. I look at those and a few other computer accessories. I talk about how I'm a new Mac convert. We spend maybe 10 minutes there, then walk back to the CPK.

We decide on CPK because it is 8p.m. and nobody is really there. We go in and debate where to sit. We decide the patio because even though it is a little chilly out (65 or so) since the patio is nonsmoking it should be ok. We are sat out by the patio door. We look at the menu, talk about what we've eaten at CPK and have our drink orders taken. I order a coke and he has a mojito. We planned on going to the club later, so I assumed we'd get drinks there. We talk about work, a little about my schooling, why I was in Louisville, and his upcoming vacation plans in Palm Springs. We sit and look, smile and glance around at each other 3 or 4 times talking about how hungry we are and how it has been a long time. We actually considered just paying for the drinks and leaving. It was 8:40 before we got the food and there was almost no one there. The conversation was good and continuous. When the bill is presented he gets his LA Fitness membership out for a 20% discount ($8.00). I ATM the food and we take off. It was $25.00 for the 2 of us, which wasn't bad.

We walk around the spectrum and decide to go to the ferris wheel for a ride. It is 9p.m. and closed. We walk around it looking for a sign for the time they close and read the safety sign. It was funny- the sign said you have to be able to fit in the seatbelt and he likes to point out the obvious "because otherwise you're too fat." He has a sort of cynical, yet optimistic personality. Interesting combo. We go to the Barnes and Noble because they're open until 11p.m. We look at books on the Civil War, presidents, and other things in the bargain books section. We then go up the escalator to the 2nd floor where we see the Warcraft and Warhammer books. We talk about those games, how there is no point, things like that. I explain how Warcraft works. We look at some biographies like "This Boys Life," "The Color of Water," and a couple others I had read. I tell him about them. Then we end up at the political books like the "Case Against Obama." We talk about the mad, angry white woman and then the hope that Obama provides. He goes to the bathroom and I peruse the book about the case against Obama- one problem is he is too focused on Chicago and their problems. At 10p.m. he says he is getting tired because he stayed up so late the other night and maybe we should forfeit going to the bar. I said not a problem.

We walk back toward our cars and up into the parking structure. I can't find my car. I didn't pay any attention to where I parked and then there were the thoughts "did I lock my car?" We finally find it- 2 levels up above where he parked. We stand across from my car on the edge of the parking structure talking. Greg tells me how happy he was that I drove down to meet him when he has told guys off in Irvine recently that live 5-10 minutes away and they don't have any intention of meeting. We talk about myspace, facebook, connexion, and how all of those work. We talk about when the time would be to take down a profile in a relationship, and little things like that.

He said he noticed how my car still had the paper plates on it and almost like a little kid getting excited, sort of jumpy, asked if he could see the car. I told him of course. I showed him the trunk, he asked to sit in it, and sat down in the passenger seat. He told me I should sit in the drivers seat so he could see how I look in it. I get in and sit down next to him. We talk about cars, his car, my car, gas mileage, how he refuses to put more than $50 in a car for gas, and things like that. We talked about how we keep cars a long time and I told him the story about my dad's car. We chat for about an hour in the parking structure and in my car total. At 11p.m. he puts his hand on mine and smiles and says we should call it a night. I put my hand on top of his, smile, and he leans over to hug. I do the same. We smile and thank each other for the company.

Overall I am glad I went and think it was a good date. Greg should be home and online shortly... hope he IMs me.