Back in the saddle again...

Well, it's the weekend after Valentine's day... and I'm returning to the field after an 8 month relationship.

It's sad when a seemingly good relationship starts to turn ugly. But, you always have "the system".

When you've got "it", you can be selective. And I didn't get into an 8 month long-distance relationship with just anybody. She was a triathelete, smart as a whip, adventurous enough to keep up with the likes of me... things really were looking good.

It was a serious relationship. We'd talked about the m-word. I'd talked about moving near her... because she was in a graduate degree program that she'd already paid for. It would have been disrespectful to ask her to leave her hometown when it was easier for me to make the sacrifice.

But, that's when the worm started to turn.

This weekend, I got the call. I would always talk to her about what I'd been doing to find a job near her. I won't talk about my "day job" here, but, let's just say that I work at a very high level within an organization. When there's an opening within another organization... Human Resources won't know about it. You won't see the job opening in the newspapers. You find these jobs by working social networks. And I told her about this, and kept her informed.

Well, this weekend, she fires the ultimatum. She can't take it anymore. She needs me to move within one month.

The old me might have done something stupid.

But, the new me knows when he's being disrespected.

I was willing to leave family, my current job, and my friends to pursue our relationship further. But, on top of that, I had to rush to a point that sacrifices my well-being?

If she loved me, would she give me such an ultimatum?

I calmly (but sadly) told her that I couldn't move that quickly. And then, she started going off on how I was leading her on, not doing anything, etc. And I calmly replied that, if she really places that little trust in me (after telling her that I was willing to move to be with her, and after keeping her apprised of what I was doing), that this was a blessing.

I hung up soon after that. (Hmm... weekend after V-Day, after presents are given. Breakup by phone after an 8 month relationship. Are you feeling the love and respect here?) I'm still dealing with psycho-voice-mails and emails, not one of which deals with anything that could be considered loving or respectful.

And, so it goes. I honestly didn't see it coming... she managed to hide this side of herself for a very long time.

But, that's the freedom a system gives you.

When a woman isn't meeting your standards... you know that there are plenty more out there that will.

And you don't have to give in to ultimatums, or do stupid things to be with the person you fall in love with, and who loves you equally. And you know you can leave.

But, when you're with the right person, you don't want to. I guess it's not this time.

Thanks for letting me lick my wounds. Back to our normal programming tomorrow.