Just back from a night out... am able to type this as I am sober as a judge ! :-)

I work in my home-town and an ex-colleague was back in town tonight so I went to a local bar & club with him and a gang from work.

Stayed on the non-alco beers all nite !! very proud of myself... spent Eur 18 so can't complain about that..

Didn't really enjoy the nite as I felt a bit claustrophobic... in that 99% of my work colleagues aren't from this town so its new to them but to me it's the same old same old..

Got chatting to a really cute local girl... but I made the fatal mistake of introducing her to my good-looking Spanish colleague !! That was me out outta the picture !! lol

So... all in all not a great nite... but I didn't spend much and I won't have a hungover...

& tomorrow is another beautiful day to do it all better !!!!

My best friens's GF was away in England for the weekend so I headed up to Dublin yesterday to hit the town with my buddy... havn't seen him since Xmas

Had a great nite... We met up with another friend of ours, my buddy's brother and his brother's GF.

The whole trip to Dublin cost me about €110 broken down as follows:

Haircut €10 (havn't had one of these in about 9 months... bought my own electric clippers for €29 last year and have been trimming it myself... saves me €9.50 a month) however decided yesterday to have it cut professionally as I wanted a more sylish look.... as opposed to the number 3 all round I can manage to give myself )

Road Tolls : €5.40
Takeaway at friends house: €15
Taxi: €10
Alcohol: €70

There were only 3 of us in the round.... My best friend always pays his way... in fact I have a job sometimes getting him to let me pay for things (I've always been fiercely independent). For example, I parked in the city centre while we went into town...me for a haircut and him to buy suits... as soon as I put the parking ticket into the payment machine, he had put money in to pay the €6 before my hand had got to my pocket.... this is such a change from the lesser "friends" I sometimes ferry about who disappear or go silent and stare at their feet at payment machines :-) As I said, I'm fiercely independent and am generous with my friends, but don't want to be seen as a soft touch either.... I guess one of the ways you can tell who u're real friends are is by how readily they part with their readies !! :-)

I really enjoyed the trip... 1. I got to catch up with my best friend. 2. I had a good night out surrounded by other young party-goers. :-)

Got chatting to 4/5 women... including two Americans !! one from New York and one from California... Met two wonderful Irish girls from Dublin. One of them was really nice.... a cute red-head -early 20s... when her friend robbed my drink (as Irish girls like to do... in a playful way but knowing that the man will usually let them keep it anyway... he is usally too embarrassed/ chivalrous to ask for it back)... she made some remark to her and took it from her and handed it back to me .... also when her friend started talking to another group of men, she had to accompany her (girl power !!)... however, she came back over to me and explained that her friend was chatting to the other guys and she had to follow.... SO NICE.... I told her she didn't have to explain herself, she could do as she wanted and that she was a lovely girl ... Was kicking myself today that I didn't get her number... had quite a lot to drink last nite... my buddy and I always do when we go out together ( met in college)... If I was sober, I'm sure I would have got her no.

So lessons learned:

1. GET OUT MORE.
I've been living like a monk for too long now. Up until now, I've kinda fell into the frugal-means-denial of pleasures-means-no fun. While I have cut my spending drasically (started a spending diary on April 1st and record every cent), I also want to make the most of every healthy day I am blessed to receive. I am young, free and single. I want to live life to the absolute max.

2. STOP DRINKING WHEN YOU ARE OUT.

A. To be honest, drinking does nothing for me. In fact, when I drink too much I lose the ability to speak !! haha. I am a much better conversationalist when sober/just lightly oiled. Isn't it so hard to know when to stop drinking when out in a bar !! A famous Irish playwright, John B Keane (who was also a publican), said "you've only had enough alcohol when you've had a little too much" !!

B. I know everyone gets hangovers after a night of drinking but I think I am particurly susceptible to a sort-of minor depressive/lethargic episode lasting for 2 days after... alcohol definitely has a depressant effect on me. Hangovers also mean sugar-cravings, mean chocolate, mean bad day for toning up body !!

C. With hindsight, I can see that I used alcohol to self-medicate my social anxiety/ shyness when in college. I am over that now. I don't need it now.

D. It is an expensive habit. I have a receipt here showing a Jack Daniels and Coke.... guess how much.... €7.90... rip-off.

E. The fundamental essence of why I, as a young single man, go out is to meet and talk with girls I find attractive. I can do this better without drink on board. I want to bask in and savour my anxiety when approaching a cute girl... I want to feel a whirlwind of butterflies in my stomach when I see her eyes light up while talking to me... I DON'T WANT TO DEADEN THESE FEELINGS WITH ALCOHOL. These feelings of nervousness, excitement "oh God, I think she likes me" are pearls of life. I'm going to focus on spending only what I need to get talking to cute girls... decent clothes, tidy personal grooming, a few cheap soft-drinks/juices... thats it. The rest is free. As are all the best things in life :-)

Sorry for writing such a long post... but I am only coming out of my hangover now...(have been drinking water all day and urinating like a racehorse !! lol) and hangover = slow, drawn out actions :-)

How much money have you spent on buying drink for ladies that you have just met in a bar or nightclub ???

In my case, over the last say 10 years, I say I could go on a very nice 2 week all-expenses trip to the Seychelles with that money !! lol

Anyways, us Irishmen have it drilled into us that it is courteous/ gentlemanly to buy drink for the women in your company. I think it grew out of the fact that my mother's generation were expected to give up work ( in fact they were forced to resign from Government job) when they got married. Therefore, they were financially dependent on men for a social life.

However, Irish women today are liberated, employed and kicking the men's asses in the education stakes. They are happy to take the place of men in every area of life apart from ordering drinks at the bar !! lol

This is no joke - many women I know will go out on a Saturday nite with €10 in their purse - the price of 2 beers or 1 cocktail - and chat to strange men who will buy them drink after drink - with no intention of dancing with or God forbid, the forward so-and-so, "I can't believe he just asked me to kiss him" kissing him.

Men of the world unite. Put your hand in your pockets and leave them there !!

I have observed that the more a man defers to a woman... one example of which is buying her drink.. another is acting like a gentlemanly guard dog who has been neutered... the less chance he has of making out with her that nite.

The guys who actually pay the women the least attention.... who make the woman feel as if she is lucky to be talking to him and not vice versa... these are the guys who you will see dancing the George Michael Smoochie sets. :-)

Anyway, this isn't a dating advice site - apologies if I have gone on too long.

The point is 2 weeks ago... I started chatting up 2 girls,called over my friend and they actually bought us drinks !!! A First !!!

First of many I hope :-)