Made to Last

We all want and look for a guarantee. At some level, generally speaking, when we dedicate our time, our money, our hearts to a specific investment, we want the odds to be in our favor that the item, project or person is going to work correctly. I cannot tell you how frustrating it has been for me that I have gone through three percolators in the past four years -- name brand percolators! So, I use the coffee pot every day at least once, but shouldn't these machines last longer?

And that terribly expensive stacking washer/dryer I purchased in November 2010 that is now broken... really? I suppose if I wanted it to last longer I should have purchased the extended warranty. At least then the washer would have lasted at least three years, probably three years and one week.

Like everything it seems these days, products, people, relationships were made differently when we reflect to the times "back then." Nowadays so many things are breaking down, disposable.

Ebay and other such websites offer "refurbished" items for a fraction of the cost of new, and honestly I have resorted to buying some items that way -- since they are likely to break down anyway, I figure.

Those with broken relationships often look to fix their lives with shiny new partners (or refurbished models, as it were). One such venue is online matching. For a mere $59.95 a month, one is able to expose herself to a virtual hoard of single men, all wanting, well, something. A guarantee perhaps? A guarantee of a life-long partner? Is that even possible?

According to a high ranking "relationship service provider," i.e. online dating service, an average of 542 of their members marry every day in the United States as a result of being matched on the site (equaling roughly 197,830 people per year). An alluring statistic, indeed. (No data available on the number who stay married... and frankly, I don't want to know....)

I personally doubt the odds.

Perhaps, on this purchase, I will require a money-back-guarantee before I invest.

Sure, the site says it matches folks on some 29 different categories, but I want to know exactly which "key personality dimensions" they are analyzing. No where in the mess of questions is there a check-box for "obsessive runner" requiring only a like-minded, fit individual in return. No offense, but riding a Harley is NOT exercise, nor is it defined as "adventurous" at least in my mind.

See, when I picture my ideal partner, I see a runner -- or at least an endurance athlete of some sort who fits in to or is one of our "community of understanding." Only a runner would be okay that my Saturday and Sunday mornings are pretty much booked on the trails, sometimes with other men, and that travel for pleasure will most likely include a race or two.

Oddly enough, there are no check-boxes on the survey for the type of partner I am used to having, either -- a handsome, kind, giving man who is willing to meet me at the finish line of an ultra.

As much as I would like to no longer be single, I will save my money for race entry fees. At least for signing that contract I get a shirt, and a chance to test my limits. Sometimes I even come away with new friends. For now, that will have to do.

There are just no men like the men I know in the ultra community, they are the best. They are the original tough models. Made to last? Well, check back with me in a year. We all want that guarantee.