Already in the Red

It may be time to cash in my crush.

Don't get me wrong - the VGLM is still as VGL as ever, and any direct eye contact still makes me weak in the knees. Probably always will.

But today, I asked him if he would like to go see Evil Dead with me when Em and her boy come to visit in a couple of weeks. He thought about it pretty hard (probably harder than anybody has EVER thought about a musical about zombies), but in the end said, "I think I'm gonna pass."

In research, one of the most valuable lessons one can learn is the mantra, "quit while you're ahead." It has served me well this week. When I finally got my new devices made on Wednesday, I decided to wait until Thursday morning to try them out so that, if they didn't work, at least I had ended Wednesday on a satisfying note. On Thursday, they DID work. So I waited until today to take the next step and try the hard part. Again, I went home happy last night. Today, I tried the hard part. It didn't really work. But that's okay - now I can go on vacation next week and know exactly what I have waiting for me when I get back. It's good to have a problem to start working on when you come back from a break.

Unfortunately, while I've gotten pretty good at doing this in my professional life, I'm not so good at it in my personal life. I'm not exactly ahead with the VGLM (the ratio of accepted/rejected invitations is at least 1/3, possibly 1/4) , but at least the most embarrassing it's gotten was one episode of forcible snuggling after too many beers, and frankly, that was totally worth it. I'm just getting tired of rejection - it seems to me that if he were at all interested in me, he would have said yes just to hang out with me. So I'm thinking maybe I just need to stop setting myself up for disappointment. It's starting to wear on me. At least if I quit now I haven't made any embarrassing confessions of actual feelings or anything like that, and I can escape with what's left of my dignity intact.