Expiration Dates

My dad used to save sunscreen well past it's "best used by" date. 

My sister and I would give him such a hard time about it, but he just could not understand why he should throw something away when it "was still perfectly good". Not sure SPF 50 is supposed to be yellow and run like the water that comes out of a mustard bottle if you don't shake it before opening it, but his devotion to not being wasteful never wavered.  He kept all of the bottles in a gallon sized zip-loc, and anytime we'd go somewhere sunny he'd pull it out from under the bathroom sink - excited for us to use it.  I'm not positive but I'm pretty sure my mother secretly started swapping out the old with new just so she wouldn't have to smell them. 

I no longer have a leg to stand on in my judgement of him. 


I just found a jam in my refrigerator that expired in june of 2012. Just for reference it is November of 2014. 

Which means that for the last two years and six months, I have been eating expired peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  

Thanks Pop. 

"The Creep Collection"

I just perused a blog post about how men lash out at women online when they feel they've been slighted.  You can have a look, here.  It is horrifying.  Because it's true.

Now that I'm back among the interweb's romantic match-making I am baffled by how often I find messages like these in my in-box.

I learned in high school how to take a hint.  I learned how to recognize disinterest and I learned how to save face in the face of rejection.  Now maybe I just got rejected more than most during my formative years - (having a look thru my old school photos this is 100% justifiable - especially grades 6,7, 9 and 10.... eeeesh), maybe I was a quick learner, or maybe I figured out that for every guy who wasn't interested in me, there was a guy who was that I wasn't into.  It balances out, I guess.

So now I am forced to wonder why these men have not learned this skill.  Just because I'm dating online doesn't mean I'm desperate.  Just because we answered the same questions the same way doesn't mean we're "destined to be together" or "a perfect match".  I realize that I'm no spring chicken here, but I also still have standards.  I will occasionally respond to an exceptionally sweet or charming or funny messages to say "thanks, but no thanks", but for the most part, when I'm not interested, I just delete them.  It is incredible how many times men who messaged will see that I read their note, looked at their profile and not responded and send me ANOTHER note asking why I didn't reply.

First dick-bag, I sometimes check my profile during the day while I'm working and I don't have time to reply immediately. Second, sometimes I think about my replies for a while to make sure they strike the right tone, so I don't reply right away.  And third, in what world does chastising someones character garner a positive response?

Why do these men not get that?  Why didn't they ever learn how to take a hint?  Get it together idiots or you shall be doomed forever.