Mastering the Mundane X

I popped out of bed this morning and checked off another day on my imaginary calendar...nine days till I hit Manhattan and I could feel the excitement run right through my body and mind.  I grabbed the computer, a coffee and shared the couch with my pups.  I remember this routine months ago when I first started this process and it made me a little sad knowing I was not much farther along in my journey...and perhaps hadn't really moved at all, but I love this part so I'm going to enjoy it while I can.  I barely thought of John anymore and every day that passed I felt better about myself and deleting him.  I logged onto my profile and started my search for the people I wanted to talk to and hopefully meet.

I sent three messages but all of them were still off line so I decided to continue my window shopping until it was time for breakfast or one of them showed up.  I began scrolling through page after page of profiles and stumbled upon one that really caught my eye.  He was a beauty but not someone I would typically think I was attracted too.  He had two sleeves of tattoos and looked like he was straight out of 'Sublime', his username was 'saltlife' so I imagine he loves the ocean.  What the hell, I have some time to kill and he appears to be online so I'll throw out a hello and see if he wants to chat.  I continued scrolling and a few minutes later 'saltlife' got back to me, "hey, I live in Long Island and only work in the city, when are you in town?"  I thought for a minute and decided that with only nine days to go I don't really have a lot of time so I threw up all my information at once, "I'm in town for five days at he end of next week. I am in a open marriage and just looking to meet friends while I'm in town.  I should be around about once every four to six weeks if you want to get together for dinner or a drink...I'm Natalie".  I felt sick when I sent the message because that is a lot for anyone to hear especially when all I have said before that was 'hi'.  He immediately got back to me, "Sorry Natalie but I'm working the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City those days...I'm Mike".  Great, another Mike, pretty soon I'll need a spread sheet to know who the hell I'm talking to and from which city.  "Ugh, that's too bad it would have been nice to get together".  We chatted for a bit and apparently his job is too important to quit just to stay in the city and hang out with some woman he has never even met and only said a few words to.   He was really nice and interesting.  There are only a handful of people on the east coast that can do what he does, it's a trade that isn't taught in schools because there are so few of them.  He was brought into the business by his brother in law when he was fourteen years old and started working the US Open.  Now he works for major events like Miss America, Americas Got Talent, all major networks and music events.  I still have no idea what exactly it is that he does but it has to do with being a video tech and making sure the rest of the world can see these broadcasts.  It's cool, I don't know that I have ever had the privilege of meeting a self made man; I like him.  We exchanged emails so we could keep in touch and possibly meet the next time I am in the area.  I never heard back from the other three and almost forgot about them while getting lost in 'salflife'.

It's disappointing that I won't meet him this visit but at least he isn't a cop...I'll call it a win.  I decided to call Karen; I was really excited to start this new lag of my journey but I would feel a little better if she came along just for my first trip.  Karen doesn't agree with how I am working through my issues and has never liked the idea of an open marriage...but she does love the Big Apple so she agrees to come and I agree to be discrete.  I started the coffee and eggs for breakfast.  I grabbed the computer and googled the distance between Manhattan and Atlantic City...it's just over an hour...