A Near Miss With Another MyLotter
By Jeff Moffitt
@moffittjc (121581)
Gainesville, Florida
March 5, 2023 11:00am CST
A missed opportunity. I am in West Palm Beach in south Florida this weekend celebrating my son’s 20th birthday. Through conversation here on myLot, I just realized fellow myLotter Dianne (@DianneN) is also in south Florida, in the neighboring town of Lake Worth, probably less than 15 minutes away from where I am. FIFTEEN short minutes away!
But lo and behold, it was not meant to be this weekend. I normally will let Dianne know when I am traveling to south Florida so that we can try to meet up. But I was under the impression that she was still at her home up north in Connecticut, so I didn’t reach out to her. Which really sucks, because the two of us have been dying to meet each other in person ever since the day we connected here on myLot.
Anyway, by the time the two of us realized we are in the same area at the same time, she was already on her way to Fort Lauderdale and I was on my way to lunch with my ex-wife before heading home to north Florida. So I am really bummed that I didn’t get a chance to meet one of my favorite myLotters.
Dianne, I’m sorry I missed you this time around, and I promise that one day soon we are going to finally get together in person.
25 people like this
21 responses
@DianneN (247186)
• United States
5 Mar 23
I was just about to get off myLot to leave for Ft. Lauderdale when I noticed your post in my notifications.
Thanks Jeff, and there will definitely be a next time. Just give me a heads up!!!!
Now I have to get off and leave. Hubs is beginning to fume and our friends our meeting us in the lobby. Bye and safe travels home!!!!
7 people like this
@moffittjc (121581)
• Gainesville, Florida
5 Mar 23
Have a great afternoon in Lauderdale! I’m sure I’ll talk to you again soon!
5 people like this
@DianneN (247186)
• United States
6 Mar 23
@moffittjc Thanks!!!! We are enjoying every day here in paradise!!!!!
2 people like this
@moffittjc (121581)
• Gainesville, Florida
6 Mar 23
@DianneN It was so beautiful down there the entire weekend. I was very surprised. It sure made it seem like paradise!
2 people like this
@ptrikha_2 (46947)
• India
5 Mar 23
Well, a missed opportunity!!
Yet may be you would somehow find another opportunity soon.
Such things can still happen!
3 people like this
@ptrikha_2 (46947)
• India
6 Mar 23
@moffittjc
And at least one interesting discussion for all of us here !!
2 people like this
@moffittjc (121581)
• Gainesville, Florida
5 Mar 23
Oh yes, there will be plenty more opportunities in the future for the two of us to meet!
2 people like this
@snowy22315 (180663)
• United States
5 Mar 23
Oh, bummer...it would have been fun for the two of you to meet.
3 people like this
@moffittjc (121581)
• Gainesville, Florida
5 Mar 23
It sure would have. And it will be fun in the future when we do meet. And in the meantime, she and I will continue having a blast through our online interactions.
1 person likes this
@LeaPea2417 (37351)
• Toccoa, Georgia
5 Mar 23
I'm sure one day you two will meet.
3 people like this
@moffittjc (121581)
• Gainesville, Florida
5 Mar 23
We will make it happen, somehow someway. It’s funny, I always thought Dianne would be the first myLotter I met in real life given that her winter residence is right where I grew up. But life has always had a way of throwing curveballs in our plans to meet.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (121581)
• Gainesville, Florida
5 Mar 23
I wonder how far away Dianne is from you In Connecticut? Would NYC be a good meeting place that is like halfway in between?
3 people like this
@NJChicaa (119608)
• United States
5 Mar 23
@moffittjc Dianne is about 2.5-3 hours from me. NYC would be a logical midpoint.
3 people like this
@moffittjc (121581)
• Gainesville, Florida
5 Mar 23
@NJChicaa Last time I was in NYC I tried to arrange a meetup with Dianne, but our schedules just didn’t line up well.
3 people like this
@moffittjc (121581)
• Gainesville, Florida
5 Mar 23
I want to meet you some day!
Do you know any other myLotters that are from Serbia?
3 people like this
@moffittjc (121581)
• Gainesville, Florida
5 Mar 23
@Nevena83 Wasn’t there another Serbian member on this site in the past? I thought there was, but I could be wrong.
1 person likes this
@Nevena83 (65277)
• Serbia
5 Mar 23
@moffittjc It would be nice. 
No, I don't know anyone.
No, I don't know anyone.3 people like this
@GardenGerty (160663)
• United States
6 Mar 23
That is one of the fun aspects of myLot. There will be a next time.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (121581)
• Gainesville, Florida
6 Mar 23
Oh yes, I agree. And with myLotters all over this great country, there is always going to be opportunities to meet people.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121581)
• Gainesville, Florida
6 Mar 23
We laugh about it quite a bit, because we just keep missing each other by a day or two. One of these days our schedules will finally match up.
@moffittjc (121581)
• Gainesville, Florida
6 Mar 23
That would be nice if I could meet her this years. It's always possible.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (121581)
• Gainesville, Florida
6 Mar 23
I was bummed, but it’s okay, there will be plenty more opportunities.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (67977)
• United States
6 Mar 23
I’m sure she’s a lot tamer than that last goofball myLotter you met….
2 people like this
@FourWalls (67977)
• United States
6 Mar 23
@moffittjc — she is a lady, she only drinks one.
Of course, we have no idea of how big the martini glass is….. 
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121581)
• Gainesville, Florida
7 Mar 23
@FourWalls I used to be the same way with my margaritas. My margarita glass was so big I could fit an entire pitcher of margaritas inside it.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121581)
• Gainesville, Florida
6 Mar 23
Well it depends on how many martinis she’s had. Lol
1 person likes this
@Tampa_girl7 (50249)
• United States
6 Mar 23
Oh shucks, but I bet y’all will make it happen.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (121581)
• Gainesville, Florida
6 Mar 23
Maybe I’ll just have to fly up to Connecticut and visit her there!
2 people like this
@moffittjc (121581)
• Gainesville, Florida
6 Mar 23
When Dianne and I finally do meet, maybe we can video chat with you so that you can be included in the fun.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (121581)
• Gainesville, Florida
6 Mar 23
@JudyEv It certainly would. What would be even better is if we could fly to Australia and meet up with you personally.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (339930)
• Rockingham, Australia
6 Mar 23
@moffittjc Wouldn't that be something?
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121581)
• Gainesville, Florida
5 Mar 23
It sure would have. Dianne and I took a liking to each other right from the time the two of joined myLot. We get along great, and I know we would spend hours upon hours talking and laughing together if we ever met in real life.
2 people like this
@shaggin (72131)
• United States
6 Mar 23
That would have been so much fun to meet each other. She is lovely person I would love to meet her as well. The interstate she probably takes to get home from Florida is probably 10 minutes from my house but I wouldn’t want to tie her up on her travels home to Connecticut to ask her to stop to meet. None of the local restaurants in that town would be worth meeting up in either. Mostly fast food places.
1 person likes this
@shaggin (72131)
• United States
6 Mar 23
@moffittjc it’s such a long drive I wouldn’t want to make that trek let alone stop to meet a hillbilly like me . I’m in Pennsylvania. You and I talked before and you’ve come this way to do paintball. I didn’t know your son was already 20 wow time flies!
. I’m in Pennsylvania. You and I talked before and you’ve come this way to do paintball. I didn’t know your son was already 20 wow time flies!1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121581)
• Gainesville, Florida
6 Mar 23
I’ve often wondered how close many myLotters have been to each other and not known it. Especially when traveling. I always tell Dianne to wave at me from her flight as she passes over Gainesville on her way to or from Connecticut.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121581)
• Gainesville, Florida
7 Mar 23
@shaggin Time sure does fly by! Kids grow up way too fast.
We do have a national paintball tournament in Pennsylvania this year, but I can’t remember exactly where or when (I’d have to look it up when I get back home).
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (471497)
• Switzerland
7 Mar 23
@moffittjc Bars in Florida is weird. I wonder if people get cubs and when they are adult bears they release them in the wild. The police found a half frozen boa snake in a parking lot in Zürich. Those animals are smart. The snake escaped from his well heated apartment, it did not expect to end up in the cold. They saved the snake, the owner now has to pay a very expensive fine.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121581)
• Gainesville, Florida
7 Mar 23
@LadyDuck Black bears are native to Florida, so they’ve been around as long as the state has been above sea level, they just were never very common in south Florida because of the swampy conditions. They prefer a more woodland habitat. But they are roamers, and will go wherever they can find food.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121581)
• Gainesville, Florida
6 Mar 23
She is definitely in Florida. Coincidentally, my brother-in-law showed me a photo of a bear he took recently while working in south Florida. During the 30 years I lived in south Florida, I never saw or heard about any bears being in the area. Now it seems like people are seeing them everywhere there now.
1 person likes this
@Hannihar (130218)
• Israel
6 Mar 23
@moffittjc
Congrats on your son's 20th birthday. Too bad you could not meet up with Dianne and I hope next time you will be able to meet. I hope it works out either this time or next time she is in Florida that you will meet.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121581)
• Gainesville, Florida
6 Mar 23
I hope it works out too. I don’t get down to south Florida much these days, so hopefully we can eventually figure out a way to meet.
1 person likes this
@Hannihar (130218)
• Israel
6 Mar 23
@moffittjc
Is there a place in between you can meet so you can connect in person?
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (178568)
• United States
6 Mar 23
That's a shame. I would like to meet you and Dianne. Have a great week.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121581)
• Gainesville, Florida
6 Mar 23
I’d like to meet you too. Who knows, maybe we’ll run into each other in the Keys!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121581)
• Gainesville, Florida
7 Mar 23
@LindaOHio It would be a fun place, and a relaxing one!
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (178568)
• United States
6 Mar 23
@moffittjc What a great place to meet!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121581)
• Gainesville, Florida
16 Mar 23
One of the things I love is that there are always opportunities to meet myLotters. You just gotta keep your eyes and ears open for those opportunities.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121581)
• Gainesville, Florida
23 Mar 23
@porwest I’m especially ready to pounce if any of our foreign myLotters indicate they are traveling to the US.
1 person likes this
@porwest (90723)
• United States
20 Mar 23
@moffittjc I imagine many of them do a bit of traveling, even to our parts of the world and country. You're right. Just have to see the signs and then pounce. lol
1 person likes this
