I don't live here anymore...almost. Kinda.

For those (ie, both) of you who wondered where I'd disappeared to after the holidays, and the resulting non-blogging, I've been incredibly busy with a job search and trying to sell my house here. This is the first time in well over a month that I've actually spent a solid week in Corpus.

Good news, I accepted an offer from American Express Financial Advisors in Austin!! The last week or so has been spent getting this house on the market down here. The last week has been especially chaotic in the urgent-housecleaning department...my kitchen table now has visible space upon it, I've done some actual dusting, and there are large swaths of carpet clutter-free. I'm doing it For Sale By Owner for the moment, but might go with a discount agent in a couple weeks if it still hasn't sold. So far I've had people take about a dozen or two flyers, but nobody's actually come inside yet. It has only been 3 days ;).

So tonight I hauled down the Jolly Roger and transferred it to Der PimpenWagen. As far as I'm concerned, I don't really live here anymore...although it will be a few weeks minimum before I'm flying the flag in Austin.

Naturally, none of this got in the way of some good drinking and womanizing! On to the social update:

Part of hauling down the flag was that yesterday I called Final Dayz Rules "Mission Accomplished". They're not exactly over, but at this point I've hit all the objectives that I actually really wanted to or realistically could.

First, the bad news. In all the back-and-forth to Austin, I had met up with two girls in San Antonio that I'd met off eHarmony. Both dates went very well, and there was significant long-term potential with both of them. Unfortunately, got the exact same results from both...a bit of minor post-date contact, and then nothing. The second one may be a bit salvageable, but I doubt it at this point. On the upside, I finally figured out why...I have been getting over-eager and losing my cool. One of the reasons I have such success down here is that I truly, deeply, don't care what happens with any of them because I know from the start it's not going anywhere. However, in the last two situations, I went immediately into fast-pursuit mode and made myself too eager and available for a second date. Hence, the girls both went incommunicado. Lesson learned.

Enough with the learning and healthiness, back to fucked up Final Dayz:

I discovered that you can provoke a lot of girls into really wanting to see you by actually leaving town. I guess it's the "Get It Before It's Gone" attitude, or that you've just declared yourself a limited-time offer. Anyway, it's given me the best excuses for finishing off my Final Dayz objectives. The new rundown:

Shawna, new to the possibilities list. I first met her a couple years ago through mutual near-friends*, just after I moved here. Asked her out over email then, but nothing. This town being on the smallside, I'd run into her a few times out in town, but hadn't actually said hello in over a year I think. So I'm ordering a beer at 21 last weekend, she's standing next to me, we begin chatting, tell her I'm leaving town, and she's giving me her number and wanting me to call her. So I did, but heard nothing. OK, standard for Corpus. Ran into her again at 21 this weekend, and I find out why--she's had a really bad week with the family, because her little brother is now going to jail for awhile. But she wants to go out in a couple weeks. We'll see if I'm still in town by then.

Nicole, the catfish waitress. Just checked the archives and I hadn't actually posted this story. There's this catfish place by my house I usually go to on Sunday afternoons. Fried hangover food, and hot waitresses. Way back in Sept or earlier, my server was this girl named Nicole, who was both really hot and incredibly friendly. So, in the check tray I left her a face-down business card with "Good for one coffee or happy hour" written on the back. Hadn't seen her again until just before Christmas, when she happened to pick up another Sunday shift. Turns out, she still had the card. Not only that, but we spent a couple hours talking after her shift (I go in late, usually) and I found out that she'd been waiting to get rid of her live-in boyfriend before calling me. Sweet! Anyway, hadn't heard anything yet, so I've been popping in on non-Sundays, and she's supposed to call me Thursday. I doubt I'll actually be in town, however.

Calli, the hottest dancer at Cheetah's. Told her I was leaving, she insists on giving me her number. Haven't actually met up with her yet, but she does return phone calls promptly.

Crystal, the psycho ex. Story for upcoming post, promised for at least two months now. Yes, things have sunk to that level, but at this point, why not? Just got an email from her with her new number and offer of a beer.

There's other stuff on the fringe, but it's not worth posting.


*Near-friend: someone more than an acquaintance whom you like, but don't really want to hang out with all that frequently.