So it's over with her! My experience with a ukrainian instamodel

[ML]

You would think that in today's world of total info available on the Internet and elsewhere . . . there would be no more 'suckers.'

But it seems P.T. Barnum had it right.

[iloveukrayinkas]

1st-international.com is a PPL (Pay Per Letter) site. It says here in their FAQ that they charge men credits, to be bought, to open letters:

http://www.1st-international.com/questions.html

That's dodgy ground to start off on as she (if it is she) could just be doing it to receive a cut of the letter writing profit, video appearances, etc. Generally PPL is regarded as not worth the bother messing around with. Didn't you know it's pretty uncertain ground to start off on? i.e that they're pretty much nearly always a scam set up as a whole.

Never said I was a client of theirs, nor did I meet this person through this service.
I just noticed this type of dynamic they had about rating profiles and all. It's
funny as just a few days ago browsing through the forum's pictures I found this romance tour from
"lovelab.com.ua" and it seems to be some sort of white label of
1st-international or the other way around.

[Trenchcoat]

Never said I was a client of theirs, nor did I meet this person through this service.
I just noticed this type of dynamic they had about rating profiles and all. It's
funny as just a few days ago browsing through the forum's pictures I found this romance tour from
"lovelab.com.ua" and it seems to be some sort of white label of
1st-international or the other way around.

I wouldn't waste time or energy on either of them much easier places to pull women on the web in the FSU. Fdate is not a bad staple, it's free but a fair amount of guys on there time wasting, as it's free. So competition that gets in the way so a nuisance to both serious men & women but still a better place than PPL and their off shoots, they are just set up to screw you over. First sight I see if any PPL I move on and don't let it bother my mind anymore.

With this girl, with any girl you have to understand that you aren't dating her or that she is your girl until you go meet her and even then it depends on how you get on when you meet and if you want a relationship. Until then it's just (hopefully) friendly chit chat, she doesn't owe you anything and vice versa. That it was your birthday and she gave you no real congrats is fair enough as you aren't a fixture in her life you're just some guy she's been messaging with. She may have a long history of messaging with guys, some of the profiles I see on Fdate have been on there a while but they still go on their regularly. I assume that it's a spare time hobby/activity for them and they will bang away till they meet their 'Mr Right' a bit like how western men used to hammer out messages on western dating websites until they went more 'swipe left or right'.

One thing I would say is be careful if there is discontinuity in her messages, sometimes its the girl being tired, not following or messaging several men. Other times it may be scammers writing for her if using PPL sites.

I think if you go for a pretty girl then of course you're setting the bar pretty high. I do the same, I go for a girl I find a turn on looks wise who I could feel into. I could make this search way easier on myself and go for an everyday looking girl but I know what really does it for me and I like a challenge, settling is just too easy for me and I think long term would be a disappointment as in not what I really want. So that said the bar is pretty high and it's not always easy to match up. A lot of pretty girls will have in mind something above what the local dudes are, how much more who knows. If it were me I would go and meet her, see what her expectations are, whether she takes to you, etc. Remember she is not a western woman so it's possible she won't have as high expectations like western women do and she may be easier to get with than you think. If it were me I would go to Moldova and get her train tickets or whatever to go meet you there. There's no point shuffling around messaging different women and deciding online that she's not suitable, go out there and decide that on a meet up. Sure you can decide after a few messages if a girl is not suitable but after many messages it's probably just grasping at straws.

So yeah I would really get out there and arrange a meet, if anything you'll discover more about her and the experience can be the most valuable. Aside from a huge amount of help and advice from guys I received on here a lot of valuable experience I gained from just a few visits out there. I didn't end up in a LTR but I learnt a lot along the way. I can pretty much say now as a result I could tell a scammer pretty easily and not have to fret about using anti-scammer sites and get side tracked into that whole waste of time but instead drop her the moment I see something amiss and just move into another girl. After a while you'll see the same old same in terms of technique that scammers use or very similar and you'll know the time to jog on. The scamming side of things really isn't that difficult to understand and see in most cases but some guys fairly new to FSU dating waste so much time on it, it's shocking. I mean a hot girl is going to see what value she can command it should be a fairly obvious point. She may feel whether a guy is along the lines of what she wants or not, it doesn't necessarily make her a scammer, if she's hot then yeah loads of guys will want in that's always the way with all hot girls. That's what makes it so tricky that she can give good attention to many guys and they all think they are the front runner when in fact they are just another horse in the race trying to get to the finish line with her and be with her.

If you've got a worthwhile business going and live in a good country like the US and have a good lifestyle that will put you ahead of the local competition in nearly all cases. The problem for you is that the local competition is near her and you are not, advantage to them. The advantage to you as said is your wealth and that is probably why she is giving you air time with her unless you happen to look like Brad Pitt. Tell a pretty girl you do a mundane job and watch her run! So I think it's really up to you on whether you wish to make a play for her and go visit, if you are satisfied that she is for real. You might be pleasantly surprised that you are more in the running with her than you thought you were. After all if she is for real she has put herself up for International Dating for a reason.

[iloveukrayinkas]

I wouldn't waste time or energy on either of them much easier places to pull women on the web in the FSU. Fdate is not a bad staple, it's free but a fair amount of guys on there time wasting, as it's free. So competition that gets in the way so a nuisance to both serious men & women but still a better place than PPL and their off shoots, they are just set up to screw you over. First sight I see if any PPL I move on and don't let it bother my mind anymore.

My question is and perhaps i might start a new specific thread on this topic but perhaps you can dispel it
right out as you are one of the more experienced members on this Forum, how do you actually get noticed
in FDating between hundreds and even thousands of guys going for the same girl??
In my case I had this scam experience with Ukreine.com that I recently posted on the other section on Scams,
thinking that I could pretty much weed out the competition in a good degree(or perhaps just avoid these large
numbers of males going for the same female) by paying an agency to be able to communicate with the one I
was interested in! I learned the hard way that even like this, and according to the agency owner himself(we had
a phone call about my scam problem) there seemed to be also dozens or even hundreds of mother fuckers
going after the same girl I was courting!!!

SO there you have it! I think I had read from Elena Petrova many years ago in her dating advice NOT to go for
girls who were KNOCKOUTS on these Russian dating sites because if they were knockouts for you they would
also be knockouts for the rest or majority of other men, or guys just shooting their own shot at least!
But in the case of the girl from Ukriene.com it wasn't even a real Knockout girl. They say I have this MCDS syndrome
and to me was like a 7 or 7.5 in a real Miss Universe type of competition, so I was trying to be modest.
Apparently in their lowly agency she was an 11/10

So I don't know whats happening in FDating right now but the other day I was browsing for single ukrainian women's
profiles and the results only showed me like 5 or 10 profiles, the most. I said, "oh well, there's not much beauty
here but let's try some decent looking women at least." Found a 25 or 26 yr old brunette, nothing really special about
her but when I clicked her profile I was AMAZED to see her profile had been clicked about 2,500 times already!!!!
WTH?
I understand I'm not gonna be the only one messaging her, but 2000+ guys doing the same??! WTF?
You absolutely cannot play with numbers like these. To me using free sites like these are an utter waste of time.
Not that I'm a pessimistic man but it's just like those Tinder experiments you find on Youtube where
the woman gets like 1000 likes in just about 1 week
of starting a new profile there. YOU WILL NEVER BE CLICKED ON AMONGST A SEA OF OTHER MEN SENDING HER
MESSAGES! And her hypergamous nature will obviously come into play here by choosing guys who are younger, taller, more
fit and richer than you.
So my question is, how do you guys even get noticed on the free sites among a BAZILLION other guys messaging her inbox
every single day!!!?
 

[krimster2]

I used to run my wife’s web site for her high-end facial care products that catered to Russian/Ukrainian customers.

She promoted her web site on Vkontakte; with paid promotions
and also did “guerilla marketing” on various “chat groups” on Vk
increasing your visibility on Vk, is something you can google to learn more

anyway, create a web site about yourself, your hobbies, whatever
though better to focus on a “female friendly” topic
like Skin Care like my wife did, or jewelry, etc
and have it in English/Russian/Ukrainian
then start promoting it on Vk!

you will get a TON of hits, that leads STRAIGHT to the woman’s profile with pics

you “cherry pick” the sweet lookin ones
and start writing to ‘em
if you can “hook one” then you go visit and see how it goes…

I’m assumin that for some reason, travel to the FSU is not easy for you to do
due to job constraint, or some other issue…

cuz otherwise, why wouldn’t ya just go to a City with a big University
where there will be a significant number of YOUNG ENGLISH speakin wimmin

and just try your luck “in person”

unbelievable number of VERY approachable and VERY attractive wimmin around universities and nearby downtown business districts

and you will have MAJOR, MAJOR FUN

Obolon on tap, is a pretty freakin good beer BTW
but in the summer, ya gotta try buying from the Piva Wagons which are usually at the edge of the big outdoor kiosk style markets
but ya gotta bring your own beer cup, cuz they don’t have any, don't cofuse the Piva Wagon for the Qvas Wagon!

a sweet life strolling through those markets on a Saturday or Sunday, lookin at deavochkie doing their shopping
these wimmin all walked everywhere carryin these big shopping bags

if you had a rental, you could just "scoop 'em up" easily...
they ain't gonna say "nyet" to a free car ride
and if you can't get a woman interested in you in 3 min of driving her somewhere...
well then, practice MORE

these wimmin had the nicest toned legs and "jhoppa" of ANY wimmin ever
you could bounce a quarter off their jhoppa
HARD BODY!!!

even better if they have a tan line with rock hard jhoppa
and you give it some playful slaps
I LOVE THE SOUND THAT MAKES!!!!

and after that, I tell em, "now go make me a sandwhich and bring me a beer!"

[Trenchcoat]

My question is and perhaps i might start a new specific thread on this topic but perhaps you can dispel it
right out as you are one of the more experienced members on this Forum, how do you actually get noticed
in FDating between hundreds and even thousands of guys going for the same girl??
In my case I had this scam experience with Ukreine.com that I recently posted on the other section on Scams,
thinking that I could pretty much weed out the competition in a good degree(or perhaps just avoid these large
numbers of males going for the same female) by paying an agency to be able to communicate with the one I
was interested in! I learned the hard way that even like this, and according to the agency owner himself(we had
a phone call about my scam problem) there seemed to be also dozens or even hundreds of mother fuckers
going after the same girl I was courting!!!

SO there you have it! I think I had read from Elena Petrova many years ago in her dating advice NOT to go for
girls who were KNOCKOUTS on these Russian dating sites because if they were knockouts for you they would
also be knockouts for the rest or majority of other men, or guys just shooting their own shot at least!
But in the case of the girl from Ukriene.com it wasn't even a real Knockout girl. They say I have this MCDS syndrome
and to me was like a 7 or 7.5 in a real Miss Universe type of competition, so I was trying to be modest.
Apparently in their lowly agency she was an 11/10

So I don't know whats happening in FDating right now but the other day I was browsing for single ukrainian women's
profiles and the results only showed me like 5 or 10 profiles, the most. I said, "oh well, there's not much beauty
here but let's try some decent looking women at least." Found a 25 or 26 yr old brunette, nothing really special about
her but when I clicked her profile I was AMAZED to see her profile had been clicked about 2,500 times already!!!!
WTH?
I understand I'm not gonna be the only one messaging her, but 2000+ guys doing the same??! WTF?
You absolutely cannot play with numbers like these. To me using free sites like these are an utter waste of time.
Not that I'm a pessimistic man but it's just like those Tinder experiments you find on Youtube where
the woman gets like 1000 likes in just about 1 week
of starting a new profile there. YOU WILL NEVER BE CLICKED ON AMONGST A SEA OF OTHER MEN SENDING HER
MESSAGES! And her hypergamous nature will obviously come into play here by choosing guys who are younger, taller, more
fit and richer than you.
So my question is, how do you guys even get noticed on the free sites among a BAZILLION other guys messaging her inbox
every single day!!!?

In my opinion/experience Fdate is a real varied mix, the girls tend to have different reasons for doing a profile on there. Some are just lonely I think and will happily converse with anyone, meet just about anyone and then weigh up if they are right to go forward with them. Some girls will just want to meet some guy out of interest to practice their English and/or go visit some basic entertainment stuff. Some girls will be hit looking and either want to find a real great guy for them or use him as a green card/immigration mule. Some girls will be out for themselves, scammers etc but generally I've found it not too bad on that.

The thing you've got to realize ILU is that the majority of the girls do their own profile, some pics are pro/semi-pro others done by themselves. Most if not all of the agency sites only use pro photos in a studio most often and yes with pretty girls mostly. Then sometimes they are photoshopped, touched up further. Point being is that on Fdate you can find some naturally pretty girls that are as you would find them. On agency sites who knows, it's not necessarily reality, I'm not saying that they don't have real stunners but they may be they're for more scammer reasons.

Elena's advice is good advice I think on that account, I would go further in that even if you got with them you would have to then have them stay with you. The number of times a pretty girl gets hit on in a day can be phenomenal. I knew a guy once who's girl was a bit pretty it was a real pia as every time he turned around in a bar, restaurant, there was done guy hitting on her or when he returned from the loos. You then have to go over and get him to bugger off without being a jerk as that can per the woman off, not a fun task.

So while I say I'm into pretty girls, I am, I'm not absolutely obsessive with it. She can be prettyish and not quite there but work a look as she may turn me on, etc anyway. I don't tend to go for the glamed up with makeup perfection type of pretty girls but more the everyday naturally pretty but not so make up done up girls. But yeah even then they will have a lot of interest. With Fdate you've got to realise that it's a site that caters for dating around the world, Japan, Brazil, wherever. So some guys just browse and move on without contacting. Also a lot of the time those hit stats are over a long period of time since she went in there so not necessarily quite as bad as Tinder where it can be 1000+ in a day. I've done a fake tinder profile of a pretty girl in the past and it rocked up that amount within a day lol so that is true. I didn't contact anyone with it and deleted it after a day as I didn't want to lead anyone on as that is unfair but yeah over a thousand swipe likes for her in a day!

So how to get noticed, well they want to see similar back so a good photo and stuff that is positive about yourself. So dress well in a good shirt, look smart & sharp and put your best foot forward. You'll be up against a load of Keyboard Romeo's and they are a pain. The only way to beat them is to be out there or make it clear that you will be out there soon. The alternative is a pay monthly site like Elena's Models or DMnotify, Elena's Models tend not to clear fake profiles as quickly in my opinion. Both however will clear most of the Keyboard Romeo's away who just do it for a bit of company. Elena's Models only tend to accept pro photo shoots and dress up with that as it's the whole idea of the site to present the girl on her best day and not necessarily how she usually is. I did meet a girl off there in Kiev and she was very attractive I was blown away by her so it can happen to meet a pretty girl off there.

The main thing is that a pretty girl IS NOT going to settle for some ordinary Joe with nothing in particular going for him. So if not a wealthy guy she will want a guy who is attractive, or good socially, or has a gym bod. It's only fair really if you think about it, why would a great looking girl go for someone who has nothing to give in exchange. People vary so if you're good in terms of emotional support or being a funny guy that may do it for her or she may like a guy who lives it up a bit. If you haven't a lot going for you, nothing big, no big positive then in my opinion you're likely wasting your time and being susceptible to scammers and bad girls until you have something, so hit the gym, get wealthy, whatever it takes to have that one big positive. The more positives the better obviously but getting even one big positive can be a hard task really. Some guys are lucky in life and born into a wealthy family or are handsome above the average but most of us either have to really work on it or possibly accept a girl who isn't all that I believe.

[2tallbill]

My question is and perhaps i might start a new specific thread on this topic but perhaps you can dispel it
right out as you are one of the more experienced members on this Forum, how do you actually get noticed

If a forum vote was taken, Trenchcoat would win first place as the village idiot.
I have no idea who would get second place, but Trench has zero competition for
the first place vote. He has very little actual real life experience.

If I had to guess he has had less than 10 dates in his life before traveling to the
FSU. He even posted a got lucky thread upon his return. He might have lost his
virginity during a trip to the FSU. He is still hung up on the girl who let him inside
her knickers and constantly thinks/writes about her here.

He is very opinionated, but he is almost always wrong.

[2tallbill]

So my question is, how do you guys even get noticed on the free sites among a BAZILLION other guys messaging her inbox
every single day!!!?

I use humor and my creativity to get a girl to respond.
Example

Your name here____________ I saw your amazing _________ (smile, eyes,
something else) and I had to write you immediately. How is it possible that
you are not married? Do you have a dozen men singing love songs outside
your window? Do your neighbors complain about it?

Write me and I will look on the calendar to see how soon I can travel to your
city.

Pishi!!! (that means write me in Russian)

Bill

Example two

If you don't write me back, then we aren't getting married and we aren't
living happily together forever.

Pishi! Pishi!

Bill


Example three

Your name here____________ I saw your amazing _________ (smile, eyes,
something else) and I had to write you immediately. My friends say I am
tall, witty and charming (I love my friends). We should meet on Skype and
find out if my friends are correct.

Pishi!

Bill

[krimster2]

In Russia/Ukraine, alpha males (successful/wealthy) are at the top
and NOT WOMEN like here in the West

it’s a supply and demand problem
cuz there are VERY few successful/wealthy men to go around in das FSU

and an “Alpha Male” is what EVERY woman there wants and CAN’T have!!
usually, after a few disastrous dates with locals
these women will kinda give up on the “dating scene”

but they will be “horny as hell”
and if you’re ANYWHERE CLOSE to looking like an “alpha male”
and just being Western will get you half way there…

then after a couple of times together
you get to take her clothes off
and have a “look”


so the solution to your low-brow incel life style
is to think “outside the box”

sustainability
most of you have to balance the cost in terms of money but also time
because you have a separate life apart from this that you need to maintain
so this places limits on the amount of resources you can spend on “operation pooty tang”

instead…
why not start a “bizness” of buyin something low in Ukraine
and selling it high in the west

and boost it to point where it makes you a couple of times what you made at your day job
and so now you can travel freely w/ tax break

if you “look right”
the wimmin will ALL come to you
no searching involved…
and they are ALL HOPING to have sex with you!
cuz you look like a foreign alpha

if you can give these women an orgasm first time
then they're yours to do with as you please, from then on....

[Trenchcoat]

That's some great stuff once again Krim. Yep once I realised that my hand would be so much stronger over there I moved my life in the direction of independent income. I don't know about buying & selling products, what they sell out in Ukraine that would be worthwhile buying for sale. The UK has to follow similar conformity standards like the EU so all items might not be applicable. Still the approach is a great one, I've been working on trying to look more like what FSW would be after as like you say once you have it down it does a lot of the work for you. I think both the virus and the war will make it even harder for girls to find a wealthy local guy so it's likely that we're getting back towards times post break up of the FSU where opportunities for foreign guys are at they're best

[krimster2]

Trench, you are WAY smarter than people give you credit...
may the pooty tang gods bless you and guide you on your journey

[Davo]

Views don’t mean anything on fdating..... Last time I used the site I might have look at 100 profiles and sent 5 of them a message. I chatted with one woman with 5000 views and she’d never had one man visit her. Some attractive women have 30,000 views after 5-10 years on the site and still haven’t found a partner.

At any one time there’s usually 500 men logged onto the site and 300 women. 475 of those men are keyboard Romeos, so your competition is 25 men......Most of those 25 are in their 40’s & 50’s, are completely unrealistic and pursue the hottest 20 somethings.

Many of the hottest profiles are email scammers or freelance Prodaters, so for a realistic guy who can show he’s traveled before, the site is an absolute gold mine with hardly any serious competition for attractive 30 and 40 year old women.

Your ace up your sleeve on fdating is the fact you’ve been to Ukraine and proved you’re not a keyboard Romeo..... Work this fact into your profile, but you have to be realistic. Most men don’t marry young Instagram models like you see on PPL sites.

I’ve said this to guys before, if you can’t be successful on fdating, then you’re going to struggle attracting a FSU woman in general .... It’s the most popular site for genuine FSU woman to use and has spawned most of the relationships and marriages I’ve seen recently.

[Trenchcoat]

If a forum vote was taken, Trenchcoat would win first place as the village idiot.
I have no idea who would get second place, but Trench has zero competition for
the first place vote. He has very little actual real life experience.

If I had to guess he has had less than 10 dates in his life before traveling to the
FSU. He even posted a got lucky thread upon his return. He might have lost his
virginity during a trip to the FSU. He is still hung up on the girl who let him inside
her knickers and constantly thinks/writes about her here.

He is very opinionated, but he is almost always wrong.

You see ILU our Beel is a great guy, or he could have been, he could have been really 'great'. He was born holding two big positives, one that he was literally big in the tall sense of the meaning being about 7ft is it Bill? The other that he is above average in looks and has been likened to Bill Clinton. Unlike the other Bill he chose humbly not to run for Office. He prefers life outback in some desolate part of the US a dust bowl as he calls it in a big spooky old prairie house like of the Wizard of Oz.

Once upon a time though our Beel had a shot at the big time, his 7ft tall status qualified him for a big break as a top Basketball player and could have made it into the Globe Trotters or something. He 'could' have been the Tom Brady of the Basketball world tossing keys away to expensive cars he didn't really want. He 'could' have been the next Michael Jordan but instead he's sillyness and lack of ability to apply himself by taking his career seriously led him to instead explaining the finer points of window locking mechanisms as a double glazing salesman.

Sure Bill will have his excuses but the fact remains he was dealt two good cards in life, being tall, even more than 6ft that women love and being above average in looks. Yet it took our Beel 10 years of traveling out to the FSU to get a girl. With those two big positive attributes he should have been able to walk it anywhere, into top jobs, into a pro basketball player, into a life with a model looking hottie girl half his age. So you see our Bill had it handed to him in life through chance of good genetics at birth but has failed to capitalise on that nearly as much as he could.

Bill is a nice guy, he had a shot at the big time, many a time but failed to make the grade even though the ball was right in his hands, Bill fumbled it I'm afraid.

Others are not so lucky in life to have had such a great hand of cards as Bill, but some of us still have a crack at it with what we've got and make that effort to make the best of what we've got as we can.

[Jumper1]

I'll repeat
-
It is beyond foolish to intentionally  avoid very attractive women.

The premise   in this scenario is false,its based on a misconception that some random.woman you find particularly attractive in a dating website has so many letters and potential suitors that you will  have a better chance with some other woman you find attractive,but not quite as much.
 If you find either woman attractive so do hundreds of thousands of other men(and women)

They will both get thousands of letters over time,and they will both be hit on by local.men all  the time.

It is like someone  wanting to.play the local.state lottory, but refuses to.play powerball multistate  lottory as the odds are technically  better at just the state level.
 While true,its foolish philisophy in the real world.

Someone genetically blessed is still just a human being with all.our inheirent flaws.,likes,dislikes,and personality triats that will,or wont jell with yours.

If you dont think you can  stand out to a genetically blessed  top 5% person ,how will you stand out to a top 15% genetically blessed person ? 17%?
21.5%?

Where would you draw that line?

If you do think you'll stand out to a 15%,then youll have every reasonable chance of also doing so with a 5%.

I dont subscribe to all  this, i am ,just illustrating the premise itself  is silly and self defeating

Contact any woman you are interested in ,period.
Rinse and repeat until you connect with someone.
Follow up.immedietely to see how it is in person.
Rinse and repeat as needed.

Dont shot your foot off before  entering a marathon.

How do you stand out?
Thats up to you!
Be yourself,who else can you be?

Humor as Bill mentioned is always good if its natural.to you,but if so,then youd already
have that down.
 Your competition is yourself.
Trust me local.guys are handsome,smart ,witty,and speak her language,if you want to sweat the competition youre already defeated.

Your main way to stand out is to be there and meet her.period.

[Jumper1]

TC,
I'm short,average looking,not wealthy ,and flew to meet one woman,and ultimately after more meetings and dating  married her.
She is an amazing person,smart ,funny,and gorgeous.

What i had going for me is a decent sense of humor and family based  ethics, and a reasonable understanding that women are not objects but human beings with the same thoughts,feelings and basic needs/desires as every other human on the planet.
I relied almost solely on my teaching in kindergarten of treating others how you would like to be treated,and giving the benefit of the doubt until.proven otherwise.

[2tallbill]

You see ILU our Beel is a great guy, or he could have been, he could have been really 'great'. He was born holding two big positives, one that he was literally big in the tall sense of the meaning being about 7ft is it Bill? The other that he is above average in looks and has been likened to Bill Clinton. Unlike the other Bill he chose humbly not to run for Office. He prefers life outback in some desolate part of the US a dust bowl as he calls it in a big spooky old prairie house like of the Wizard of Oz.

I'm only 6' 7" and was a good enough basketball player to get a college scholarship
but I wasn't nearly good enough or tall enough for the NBA.

I spent 9 years searching and making countless mistakes before I was successful finding
my Angel Eyes. I don't any have excuses only a journey where I found happiness at
the end.

Austin Texas is the Dust Bowl?

[Trenchcoat]

I'm only 6' 7" and was a good enough basketball player to get a college scholarship
but I wasn't nearly good enough or tall enough for the NBA.

I spent 9 years searching and making countless mistakes before I was successful finding
my Angel Eyes. I don't any have excuses only a journey where I found happiness at
the end.

Austin Texas is the Dust Bowl?

I was only pulling your chain Bill, relax. If you are satisfied with what you got then that's good enough for sure.

In this part of the world, South Wales the national sport is Rugby, the guys that make it here in Rugby are literally Stars. They get well paid and are literally celebrities. I know little off them as I don't follow it but some young tart on the train I was on a while back was gushing over some Rugby guy she knew, been on TV and all sorts. One Rugby guy I read about online in Wales did himself in. He picked up an injury which meant his path to Rugby stardom and hence fortune & fame was over. Guess he couldn't stomach being cast down lowly and becoming a regular Joe like the rest of us.

Myself I wouldn't be any good at Rugby way too thin for it and too old now. Basketball I used to be ok at but no money in it here as no big game scene. Guess it's just luck of the draw sometimes.

[Trenchcoat]

I'm only 6' 7" and was a good enough basketball player to get a college scholarship
but I wasn't nearly good enough or tall enough for the NBA.

Apparently the current average height of an NBA player is 6ft 6in, so your 6'7" should have been roughly enough. I'm not saying about the real top stuff but wasn't there a level just above College level you could do and still earn good money? Was the option open to pursue it further at all?

Just interested to see how you see it as it seems to me you could have potentially had a shot at the big time.