Puma: Been there, brother! I share your war stories! What has helped me avoid these is recognizing when I'm in that "panic" "gotta be today, gotta be now" thinking. After getting burned in panic mode a few times, I managed to catch myself once. "No," I was able to say. But of course you've got some time carved out, and you need to not waste it. What I did that helped me ( and mind you, I don't drink often so no fear of " turning to the bottle to solve problems" - but do be careful - what I did was find a nice upscale bar and order a scotch that was waay over what I would normally pay, but still 1/2 of what I was about to loose on a bad date! I sat there for 1/2 hour, relaxing in a nice leather chair by a fireplace, savoring the drink and realizing I could have 2 more and still be ahead of what I was about to to. I did only have one, and left with " seed money " for my next free day. It's not easy- but if you can recognize the panic signals and get ahead of them - and do something else satisfying - it may help. That whole time in the chair I was deciding - blond or brunette, long, definitely long.. at least a C, over 5'5"......