Being a single guy with a house and a good job with medical benefits, makes me a target for a lot of the single women in the area.  Of course, for some women, their only criteria for a man is “male, alive and hetero sexual”, though the latter is negotiable.  So, I am always guarded around any single woman, even the ones that I know and trust.

I never though that I would be in this position.

I recently started receiving love letters from Oklahoma.  First of all, I was surprised to get any correspondence from some one that far away.  After all, my search range does not extent that far.  But, more to the point, these letters are from young women in their 30s.

Now, the writers of these letters claim to be madly in love with me.  They state that they have read my profile and determined that I am their perfect match.

Well, given their age and their distance, I find it hard to believe that they can’t find someone closer and younger.  And, while I am sure that it is a scam of some sort, I am not sure just what it is.  But, more to the point, I am not interested.

If it seems too good to be true, it probably isn’t.

I was recently contacted by a woman who claimed to be madly in love with me even though we have never corresponded, let alone, dated.  Well, needless to say, I was skeptical.

And, since she had a slight accent, I had to ask her country of origin.  It was Germany.

She then went on to tell me that she would be a very good wife for me.  And, that she was about to be deported.

While her pictures looked very nice and she sounded wonderful on the phone, the risk factor was too great.  So, I passed.

Besides, I had no way to validate the information that she presented.  For all I knew, she could have been a fugitive from some third world country.

Dysfunctional families produce dysfunctional children, who marry dysfunctional people and produce dysfunctional families.  And so, the circle goes unbroken.

If you are unsure if your present SO is dysfunctional, look at her family.   Are the parents still married?  How about the siblings?  Have any of them done jail time or been committed?  While your SO may seem perfectly normal, if she comes from a dysfunctional family, there will be extra baggage with the relationship so be prepared.

I once dated a woman who had two credit cards. At the end of the month, she would roll the balance from the one over onto the other and vice verse.

I don’t know everything there is to know about her finances, but, I was not comfortable with what I heard.

I once dated a woman who drove a 1996 SUV.  She said that even though it was old, it was in very good shape.

She must take really good care of her cars, I thought.  But, then she went on to say that the SUV had been in so many accidents that most of the body parts were brand new.

Well OK.  I suspect that she may not have a good driving record.

When it come to mental issues, there are really only two categories; those that require hospitalization and those that don’t.  If the sibling requires hospitalization, then the amount of involvement by your SO is minimal.  There may be the occasional consultations with the medical staff, but, by and large, the staff handles everything.

The other category are those individuals who are well enough to function on their own, but do require constant supervision.  These are the ones who will require the most from your SO, so be prepared.

Are the siblings sane?  Well, that is a very good question that needs to be determined.  Just because your SO seems sane doesn’t mean that the rest of the family is sane.  (Think Adams Family)  And, if the rest of the family is “nuts”, that means you have a whole lot of extra baggage to deal with.

I once dated a woman who was concerned about body hair.  Even though it was our first date, she wanted to clear the air up front.

So she asked me if I had a lot of body hair.  I told her that I didn’t.  She was relieved because she didn’t like men with a lot of body hair.

Well OK then.  Since I didn’t have much body hair, it sounded like we were a match made in heaven.  I didn’t ask her out again.

It is a toss up between mothers and older sisters.  Both pose a formidable challenge.  While mom can be dismissed as old and out of touch, older sisters are a different matter.

The older sisters brings a wealth of pseudo wisdom and current experience into the relationship.  And, while the sisters may be total idiots, they are sisters, none the less, and have voting rights, so to speak.

Beware of the older sisters.