I was sifting through some threads here on 43 things when I noticed a bunch of posts by Husband. I also noticed that he was from Bakersfield. You might want to check out my post on Bakersfield

http://www.43places.com/people/progress/dbraun/1412690

to get an understanding that it is not your usual sort of town. I have been stuck here on business for the past 4 months and have great difficulty finding intelligent people with which to have dinner.

So I invited him. Cold. No preamble, just “Hey, I’m from 43 things; let’s eat.” He said “yes, what about tomorrow. I’ll bring my girlfriend” That’s my kind of can-do personality.

We decided on Indian food and met up outside the restaurant, but let’s cut to the chase: the food was great, the conversation lovely, the camaraderie friendly and warm… now about Husband. (I didn’t actually call him “husband”, he was kind enough to give me his real name, but I don’t want to out him here without his permission.)

Husband is an amazingly goal oriented guy. He has it all written down. Days are planned and orchestrated. This guy has a plan. That’s good because most people I meet just drift. Even the intelligent ones, the ones who could make a plan still float between encounters with life. Not Husband he knows right where he is going and how to get there.

He is a little apologetic that parts of his plan haven’t been enacted on the schedule he dreamed up. I think that’s just fine. It’s how the universe communicates with us and tells us to lighten up a little.

It was interesting having three people at dinner. On the one hand, in our 3 hours together, I learned less about Husband simply because time was spent also getting to know a third person, but on the other hand, his girlfriend is a Bakersfield native and I loved dwelling on the insider insights that are so elusive in this town.

Eating dinner and telling stories is one thing, but you really have to get out and do stuff to get to truly know a person. Hopefully we will meet up again and pick an activity that brings out our personalities more fully…. Maybe we’ll cook a meal. I’ll keep all y’alls posted.