My Evening With Reginald

Last night I had a date with a gentleman by the name of Reginald, Reginald Derby Wright to give him his full name.

We met via an internet dating site I've been subscribed to for the past month; it's called Intellectual Pursuits and of course, shouldn't be confused with its near-namesake the excellent Horn Abbott International outdated trivia-based board game Trivial Pursuit.  It was £5.99 for the first three months and then £22.99 thereafter - it's run from the spare room of self-proclaimed 'internet zillionnaire' Chuck Peters who moved to Bracknell after a successful career in Silicon Valley.

Anyway, I digress, as ever.  I have had a few 'matches', but nobody has really interested me enough after the first flourish of email exchanges has petered out, however all of that changed last week when I first encountered a man called Reginald.  He has his own business as a peripatetic key and shoe repair agent and moved out of his parents' house into his own studio flat last February.  His picture showed a balding, bespectacled slightly overweight man wearing fawn cords, a ZZ Top t-shirt and a battered velvet jacket.  He had twinkly blue eyes and a cheeky grin though and he was able to use the correct punctuation and grammar in his emails, which made me warm to him immediately.

We went to a licenced cafe for dinner which offered free corkage, so Reginald brought along a bottle of Hardy's Chardonnay.  Unfortunately it had already been opened, but I trusted that he hadn't necked the wine out of the bottle and accepted a glass.  We both ordered the 'neverending dinner' which was a choice of potato chips; potato waffles; beefburgers; lamb chops; sausages; pork steaks; chicken nuggets, tinned carrots, tinned peas and tinned sweetcorn.  I'll admit that my palate is slightly damaged after a childhood spent eating convenience foods in the 1970s and 1980s, but it was a splendid repast and you'll never guess what was on the dessert trolley?  Yes, Bird's Trifle, Fruits of The Forest Mousse and Butterscotch Angel Delight.

He paid the bill in full.  We had a splendid time and I've agreed to go out with him again on Saturday night.  I am so happy!

A Quiet Saturday

This very morning, whilst carrying out my daily 'physical jerks' I sustained an injury to my second toe and it's now bruised and swollen.  Therefore, I have been mostly confined to the sofa, either watching DVDs, listening to audio books or leafing through my pad.  I agree that this isn't a great state of affairs, but what can I do.

Father telephoned at 14:30 excitedly telling me about his forthcoming presentation at the 'Senior Life Session' which is currently scheduled for next Tuesday morning at 10:30.  I believe that he has his eye on Marian Waterstone, an attractive widow of some sixty-seven summers who has a beach hut in Bexhill-on-Sea as well as a maisonette in West Wickham and a tool shed in Purley.  Rather excitedly, she once appeared as an extra in an episode of the classic BBC comedy Terry and June and has provided many a tale about what really went on in the White City Canteen.  Most are incredibly boring, but it's her fifteen minutes of fame and she's right to hang onto it.

Cousin Eleanor's Birthday

It's Cousin Eleanor's fortieth birthday today and she's none too happy about it.  I can't think why - after all, she's a widow with a mortgage-free life, what else could she ever want in life?  We're, well Father and me are planning to visit later, after work and apparently there will be cake and bubbles there, but here's hoping that it's the beverage variety rather than the bath cleanser?  Her son, the ever lively Sebastian will be present, but hopefully he won't be quite as crazy as usual - his prowess on the Connect Four game board is somewhat legendary in the family.