A few things I have realised.

Life is hard, some women get to their 40's and don't really have a lot... if you own property/earn a decent amount, they like that... I wouldn't call them gold diggers, but they like the fact that you could provide for them.

Also some women in their 40's who have previously got on in life because they were fit/good looking really struggle when their looks start to fade. They enter the real world of having to provide for themselves, and can sometimes be quite bitter about it.

In the interests of balance, there are some douche bag men out there. Loads of married fellas, men who lie... not just tiny lies... they create a whole alternative life, just to get some tail.

My last date was nice, chilled... we had a great time. She then emails me her work shift pattern, telling me the days she is available for the next 8 weeks, and asks me what days she should reserve for me.
We've only had 1 date!

Right .. Your either very unlucky and have some sort of invisible nutter homing becon, your on a wind up or your a journalist trying to write an article about dating and need material

When I was a young girl my Mother said to me.. You listen here kid you're CPFC

Or....

A large % of people who do online dating have issues. I've had some ok dates. I only post the nutty ones here.

"Nice date but we had nothing in common" doesn't seem post worthy. If you want a synopsis of all dates (good/bad/indifferent) then I will do that.

My observation on life, is that everyone is f**ked up, everyone lies to get what they want, and the older you get the more you realise that 'real life priorities' outweigh romantic notions, especially if you've been in a few failed serious relationships.

People with relationships tend to develop their outlook as the age on what went wrong before (or repeat their mistakes). This is why quite a few women want some financial security, because it turns out the being in love with someone who is broke really sucks the life out of you. Plus realistically, there are many women who may not have the ability to reasonably 'take care of themselves' because they gave up 10 years in a relationship to raising kids.

When I was internet dating I avoided people who had no income, or jobs, because this time around I got to choose some of the specifics of who I would fall in love with.

After all if you can only fall in love with someone you meet, and you're looking primarily through online dating, why not look for people who have a reasonable income or prospects. Anyone who's ever been in a relationship with 'a struggling musician or artist' can tell you that it sucks.

People tend to be bitter I think, not because 'their looks have faded' but because they've 'effectively wasted their youth' on social conventions and all they have to show for it is a broken relationship.

"One Nation Under God, has turned into One Nation Under the Influence of One Drug"
[Link]

To put it another way, anyone that isn't a bit weird is a bit weird.

I think you have to be realistic ..What exactly do you want out of a relationship as a first date isnt going to show you exactly what she is and what she is about. I was in a relationship and our first date was a disaster. I didnt fancy him at all and it seemed we had nothing in common but i decided on a second date and we ended up having so much fun and spent quite a lot of years together and i grew to fancy him daft as that sounds .sadly he had a stroke years later and things went downhill as i became his carer for a few years but we remain best of friends to this day. You will never get a true impression of somebody on a first date, it takes time and you usually find its those that really didnt impress you first time round that turn out to be the ones you bond with the most.Dont forget a first date is nerve wrecking and you dont know the other person well enough to know what makes them tick so you of course do try to just do what you think is expected of you and usually you come across as totally the opposite lol.
If you can laugh and she enjoys your banter you are half way there as that is one of the most important things in any relationship, (old head on here lol).