Thanks Charles...

So if she blocked me and I sent an IM request, the system would actually state clearly "YOU HAVE BEEN BLOCKED BY USER" and it wouldn't let the attempt go through? Because what I've seen is the IM session opens and says it's waiting for her to connect...but superimposed over her picture in the upper right of the IM window is the word BLOCKED. It appears I've blocked her. And in fact, if I try to go ahead and send her a message it says I must unblock the user before I can send a message to her.

However, when I check my Blocked Users...she is not there. And every attempt to have that IM show her as unblocked resets if I reopen the window.

But...to be honest, I think I've figured out what happened...and yeah...I've been blocked! LOL She missed an email earlier in the week and I continued to operate on the assumption she'd gotten it. ;) ...an assumption which led me FAR FAR astray. LOL So...my bad!

Thanks for your help!

My suggestion is get a part time job at some place with a lot of interaction and a variety of age groups and types of people. Believe it or not, a Pizza Delivery job might just do the trick.

I don't know how you are financially...so you may not want to "stoop down" to that kinda thing. But I've worked in A LOT of different kinds of places....military, government, corporate, state, NGO, private, small business. I've done technical, sales, lab, production, customer service, clerical and restaurant...you name it.

But pizza delivery led itself to more social interaction than any other. It's just the nature of the fast paced, close nit, close quartered, but still laid back and somewhat casual environment. Add to that some older staff working a second job...who are usually your salt of the earth types and full of good advice...and the ones with the "granddaughter you just have to meet!" ;) Along with the younger folks...including early twenties ladies who might be looking for just your type. And a high turn over rate for those younger folks...if you're fishing for a date...it's about quantity at this point. Forget waiting for that perfect person...she might be there and gone the next second because you were still evaluating her.

Then take in the high level of social interaction which gives them all a chance to know all sides of you, and you're in dude! You just have to use that environment to let the fun loving, upbeat, go get'em sides of your personality shine! But keep it friendly and loose and I'd darn near guarantee you'll get a date or two out of it.

And don't count anyone out...widen those windows of acceptance...race, age, social standing, physical appearance...don't put anyone in a slot...leave it all in the mix. But keep it, casual...simple...no pressure...even if you think she doesn't really fit any of your other criteria. Even if don't think you would ever consider an actual relationship with her. You might be pleasantly surprised...and even if you aren't...girls like guys who are accepting to all (even the girls who aren't so accepting themselves...they can't help themselves...it's just in their nature to look for that trait in a man). So look past the physical to the inner. If nothing else you could end up with a great friend. And then you've not only made a friend, you've expanded your social circle to include her friends.

And never approach the decision to ask someone out with "I don't know...would I really want a long term relationship with her?" Because dude...no matter how well you know her...you don't know her at all until you've lived with her. So don't even bother trying to figure that one out. If there is ANY interest at all in any aspect of her...she's fair game. But remember, you aren't asking her to marry you...you're asking her to grab a bite after work or something simple like that. So if she says "Naaa." it's all good! So what...it's no real loss. Even if she says "Sure!" it's still not that big a deal...it's just a bite to eat....so don't over think it...don't build it up and cause yourself undo stress...just take it for what it is and let it go where it goes.

I don't mean to sound so calculated...because really I'm not. What I'm saying is, fun-loving, upbeat and positive, be a great guy, an easy friend, an accommodating and understanding person...be the kind of person everyone should be anyway...and you're being the sort of guy that almost any girl will enjoy spending some time with...if they are anyone you'd REALLY want to have long term anyway. Right?

And do it all while having fun and making spending money! Oh and free pizza! ;) Fun, Money, Free Pizza and Girls! Come on...what could be better dude! LOL

hey! from North Augusta...I didn't even know the site had forums until last night. ;) I gotta say, this is a pretty good site. The people here are more responsive than just about any I've come across.

I had been emailing and IMing with a girl for a few days. Things seemed to be going well, but then in the middle of an IM session tonight the IM window suddenly said that the session had been closed by her. I thought something must have been wrong with the IM session, but when I went back in to try to IM her...there was the word BLOCKED over her picture in the upper right side of the screen. When I tried to send a message to her, it said I couldn't IM her as long as I had her blocked. So I clicked the unblock button and tried to send a message, but never got a response. Restarted and tried again and same thing...the work BLOCKED was in red over her picture and when I tried to send her a message it said *I* was blocking *HER*.

I had not blocked her...at least not initially and when the IM had first crapped out it said she had closed the session. So I went into messaging to check to see if it showed her as being under my Blocked Users and it said I had no one blocked.

I sent her an email message, but even though she was on for another hour or so, the message never showed as read and I never received another IM request.

So I'm just not clear...did she block me for some reason? Or did the system screw up? If I'm blocked would the system still let me see her profile and online status? Would it still let me email her even though she'd never received them?