#FirstDate #FirstDates #FirstDatesIRL #Dating #Kilkenny #Irishtown #Cakeface #Ireland #LEGO

Every good nerd knows that 42 is the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything. And if I had been counting which number date this was at the time, I would have been very optimistic about my chances with FirstDate42. And honestly, she gave me every reason to be optimistic. It started with her being interested in playing board games. As she was in County Wexford, and this was still Pandemic-Time, we could not play face-to-face. But there are a number of websites that facilitate the playing of board games online. One very notable one is Board Game Arena (https://boardgamearena.com/). While using Discord (a communications software that we used to talk via the internet), I was able to teach her a few games. We played Luxor, Takenoko and Tokaido to name a few. It was nice to do something social during lockdown, and it was nice to do something specifically with her.

Also, we watched Rocky Horror Picture Show together via Zoom. She had never seen it before, but she got really into it. She even dressed as Magenta! Patricia Quinn (not FirstDate42) as Magenta pictured below:

The country vacillated between being in lockdown and opening up for Christmas 2020. Ultimately, they opened which was probably a poor decision. Nevertheless, she drove to Kilkenny, and we went for lunch at Cakeface. Afterwards, I walked her back to her car. She gave me a lift back to my house, and we shared some hugs and kisses with each other. Just after Christmas, all hell broke loose with COVID, and it was quite some time before we could see each other again without breaking restrictions.

During that time, I’d have to say that I lost focus. That loss of focus wasn’t just with her it was with everybody and everything. We had just spent over nine months of 2020 in various states of lockdown, I hadn’t seen my family since November 2019, the world was going crazy, and even when matched with a very willing and accommodating woman she was still unattainable with the way things were going. It wasn’t until August 2021 that we got together again. We walked in a forest on the outskirts of Kilkenny. It was great catching up with her, but the magic was gone. For me, 42 wasn’t the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything, it was just another number…

(Last Dated – August 2021)