If you want to date people your own age at 35, I think you might have to lift the blanket ban on single mothers...
That seems an awful lot like settling.
Who here has dated someone with a child(ren)? It's a challenge all unto itself. The childless one is always second-fiddle. If they get attached, they're getting attached to two people, leading in double heart-break. Then there's an inherent lack of spontaneity, as dates have the element of needing a caretaker for the child(ren). The matter of the kids' out-of-the-picture parent is also at play. Sometimes that can be
very messy.
And, in my case, I have zero interest in having children. It's a core belief/value.
I dated a woman with a 7 year-old a few years back. At least I can say I tried, but it didn't work out for a myriad of reasons.
Then there was another woman whose niece was around a lot. I remember after that breakup it hitting me that I'd never see the niece ever again and it made the breakup even more shattering.
Lease that shit out and use the monthly rent as buffer to set up in a city.
You're not looking for ways to better your situation, you're just wallowing in your problems and that won't get you anywhere.
Okay, I appreciate the advice. I do. I think we need to not look at the situation in a vacuum, though. The advice of both finding another job and selling/leasing the house are both monumental life changes. And they can take a long time for just one of those to come to fruition, let alone both.
I just took my house off the market in September. I had few bites. That was both having a shitty realtor and a fixer-upper house.
So, it's not really fair to say I've not been trying. Read the below for more examples.
Something like this will definitely do the trick. It seems you're from a small town in Missouri or Illinois.
Try to move out and use your favorite activities as a way to meet people. Like rock climbing? Join a gym or group to climb with people within your age group. I joined a studio and I've met quite a bit of new people.
It seems you need access to more people to experience in general, so moving to a city that is even a little bigger will make a good difference.
Also, erase the online dating apps. They're not going to make you feel better in the state you're in.
(Oops) just read your response. What are your activities since moving is out of the picture?
These are also good pieces of advice.
Video games are a major activities, of course. When the weather is nice, I road cycle. Even when cycling with a group, it's not really the best social experience. I tried martial arts as a an activity for fun, exercise, and to expand my social circle. Money eventually became an issue, but it was a perfect place if I wanted to meet High Schoolers (or barely out of) or adult men.
There's a board game group that I've gone to a few times. I should go to more. It'd only be a social solution, not a dating solution.
I live near a State park and a National park. There are activities there, and I've gone to a few, but they're never quite good for dating connections.
Long story short, I am in a really shitty place, figuratively and literally.
I feel like the above posts seem like excuses, but they're not. I've been trying, but it appears I could be trying harder. That still doesn't make the pangs of loneliness any less, though.
36, big city and still no one's in sight atm. Know the Tinder feel, it can be a black hole for bad feelings if you don't look perfect. Also fell for the coworker thing once, and also didn't have much luck apart of the occasional date, so most of your story seems familiar. Try to not worry too much about it I guess. The more you focus on it, the worse you'll probably feel. 
