A few interesting 'observations'/thoughts
-So much stuff around here involves events starting in DC at around 6 PM, which tends to require me to really fuck up my schedule and commute.
-If the event in question begins significantly BEFORE 6 PM, then it moves to 'no matter what I do with my schedule, I'll be late'.
-And, worse, this means (as I've probably mentioned many times before), it does NOT put me on an equal footing with others at the same events, which becomes positively painful.
-In particular, a last-minute cancellation of an event (or a disappointing event...) simply has a much greater 'cost' to me...
-ALSO, in the past year, I've noticed a switch in the online dating scene that seems to make my life A LOT harder: people seem to have generally moved from online applications (where the protocol is designed to simulate email) to mobile applications (where the protocol is designed to simulate texting)...
-as I'm MUCH more comfortable with email than with texting, this is *not* a favorable difference. (And yes, these applications have been around for quite a bit longer than that; the difference seems to be that it's now also predominant for people in their 30s; not just people in their very early 20s.)
-It's nearly exactly 1 year since I've moved here... which means that I have a real sense of what things are like in my specific area in Arlington/in the region as a whole.
-I still, despite everything, think that this location is probably the best fit for me in the region (many suburbs would be a better fit if I already had a kid) - but given that NEITHER of the major cities (Baltimore or DC) strike me as particularly livable, it feels like a "tallest jockey" situation at times...
-possibly the hardest part is that there is nowhere here with reasonable access to both urban amenities and some form of beach (when the best waterfront views around involve the Patapsco or the Patuxent)...
While I'm definitely feeling comfortable around here (and enjoying, for example, that 2016 will be the first year since 2008 that I don't need to move) - putting everything together makes it clear that I definitely will want to be a different place in my life (which does not NECESSARILY require a shift in location) by the time I'm 35...
-If the event in question begins significantly BEFORE 6 PM, then it moves to 'no matter what I do with my schedule, I'll be late'.
-And, worse, this means (as I've probably mentioned many times before), it does NOT put me on an equal footing with others at the same events, which becomes positively painful.
-In particular, a last-minute cancellation of an event (or a disappointing event...) simply has a much greater 'cost' to me...
-ALSO, in the past year, I've noticed a switch in the online dating scene that seems to make my life A LOT harder: people seem to have generally moved from online applications (where the protocol is designed to simulate email) to mobile applications (where the protocol is designed to simulate texting)...
-as I'm MUCH more comfortable with email than with texting, this is *not* a favorable difference. (And yes, these applications have been around for quite a bit longer than that; the difference seems to be that it's now also predominant for people in their 30s; not just people in their very early 20s.)
-It's nearly exactly 1 year since I've moved here... which means that I have a real sense of what things are like in my specific area in Arlington/in the region as a whole.
-I still, despite everything, think that this location is probably the best fit for me in the region (many suburbs would be a better fit if I already had a kid) - but given that NEITHER of the major cities (Baltimore or DC) strike me as particularly livable, it feels like a "tallest jockey" situation at times...
-possibly the hardest part is that there is nowhere here with reasonable access to both urban amenities and some form of beach (when the best waterfront views around involve the Patapsco or the Patuxent)...
While I'm definitely feeling comfortable around here (and enjoying, for example, that 2016 will be the first year since 2008 that I don't need to move) - putting everything together makes it clear that I definitely will want to be a different place in my life (which does not NECESSARILY require a shift in location) by the time I'm 35...