This story follows my 1996 European Trip story. If you have not yet read that page, please click and read it first…. // HART

It was just a few months ago in December 1996 when I travelled and visited internet friends in London, England and Stockholm, Sweden. Needless to say, my credit cards, my exhorbant long-distance phone bills and my astronomical heating bills of my dumpy house on Collegiate Street was getting to me. I was determined to be a hermit during 1997, leaving my house only to earn wages to keep my banker and credit mongers happy!

I am a multi-tasker. I remember in early March 1997, I was chatting online with people I have befriended from the internet, in MiRC, ICQ, and POWWOW .. at the same time … I believe I was possibly even in the middle of an online Cribbage tournament game when “somebody” paged me on Powwow. I said my Hello’s and Goodbye’s and apologies, but bookmarked this user CALLIOPE38. A few nights later, Calliope38 was online again, in Powwow and we chatted or rather, ‘typed’ together. Please keep in mind, that Powwow is an “IRC” chat program (“I”n “R”ealTime “C”hat) and it was neat watching someone type as fast as me! It wasn’t until this second chat session – that I realized she was from my home town .. Winnipeg.

I asked her if she would give me her telephone number, and before she finished typing it on the screen .. her phone was ringing! Yes – it was me 😉 We talked a few times over the phone over the next few days – each time the call lasted for several hours. I found we had much in common, she laughed at *most* of my jokes, and sounded very sweet on the phone (translation: her sexy voice and breathing in my ear was a great turn-on!) .. and she was a local call! From Winnipeg!

I found it curiously odd that we were both looking for something (someone) online, and we both actually went out of our way to travel to meet a few online acquaintances, in person… Yes, she seemed very nice. We had a lot in common.

Her name was Yvonne, and her birthday was this upcoming Thursday, March 13th.. I asked her if she wanted to meet me, and she invited me to go out on her birthday. OMG.. (I thought) too much pressure for me! “Why don’t we meet, in a non-date situation, on saaaay… Wednesday March 12th?” I asked… I knew she was having problems with her Win3.1 program, and I suggested I could upgrade her to Win95 and we could talk, meet, and mingle. She liked that idea. I did too naturally, as it pushed our meeting UP one day!

She lived in an apartment, on the other side of town. I immediately left my workplace, at 5:00pm on the nose, giving me about a half hour to get down there. I got there in about 20 minutes. I buzzed her apartment number and said “Hi. I’m Hart.” She said.. “Hi There.. I’ll be right down” and she buzzed me in. Well, obviously I knew her apartment number, but she confused me by saying she would come right down… So, I just stood there, waiting for her — with Win95 CD in my hand.

Suddenly, she came down a long hallway and walked towards me.. “WooHoo” (I was thinking to myself reminding that she was “Local and a Cutie!” .. 🙂 She came towards me and put out her hand for a hand-shake and I smiled and said “Hi. I’m Hart” and shook her hand … she smiled back and said “I know .. I’m Yvonne”..

Yah – that sounded awkward, but it wasn’t awkward at all .. we went up to her apartment and I immediately began to work on her hard drives… ON HER COMPUTER .. (you dirty minds you).. and installed win95. Thank goodness for its slow installation procedures, as you know, and the fact it takes forever at 99% during every update procedure….. we had lots of time to chat face to face and learn more about each other. Well, she let me continue to work on the upgrade, and did I mention that her computer was on a desk in bedroom?

I was a gentleman at all times. Yvonne had to work early the next morning, and we were only at about 40% conversion and it was about 10pm. I offered to stay and finish the upgrade, be really quiet, and hopefully be out by midnite! Geeez… the 286CPU was taking forever, and by 2:00am, it was only at 80% so, I was going to see if I can just crash maybe on the floor next to the computer, or .. beside Yvonne on the Bed. Unfortunately, her HEDGEHOG (Heidi – memo, who just passed away September 2002) started to eat her kibbles and woke Yvonne up, and I quickly pretended to type something on the keyboard and notioned with a sad face to Yvonne, “it’s nearly over.. but .. it still will be awhile.. go back to sleep!” .. I left, and fell asleep on the sectional in the living room.

Yvonne woke me up early in the morning, and we had coffee and chatted. She left for work and I finished off the final installation steps needed before heading off to my home for a quick shower, then to work. My ~get-to-know-you~ plan worked… Yvonne asked me out on that real date later that night, on her birthday. All this time, I had referred to March 12th as our anniversary date that we met… even though it’s a killer time for presents …my mom’s birthday is March 11th, and Yvonne’s on March 13th .. *sigh*