While in general I liked this story better than most Resnick offerings, and I thought it had some great moments, and the reading was excellent, I have to ditto Rain on the creeptasticness of the protagonist. Add to that a dose of smug ('I'll fix you up with this lovely girl, you HAVE to like her') and I found that the main character was pretty unlikeable myself.
However, I was still able to empathize with him, and I still liked the story. Maybe it spoke to my inner creep or something. I like that Resnick chose to portray an older man, with all the frailties and foibles that are available to such a character. I'd like to hear and read more stories with old people in them, quite frankly. I'm a little tired of stories where everyone is between 18-25, given that I find people of that age boring most of the time (sorry, ageist, I know! I believe your boring 20 year old self should have the same rights and privileges and make wages commensurate with your skill regardless of experience, if that makes you feel better).
Anyway, score one for Resnick, though like Rain, I find this story peculiarly mushy to be a Hugo offering. I had the Edward Bear sentimentality issue with it, though not nearly as bad as with Edward Bear. The Benadryl remained safe in the cabinet throughout this episode of the podcast, and I only sneezed twice. I'm kind of boggled by the sentimentality streak that I've been shown SF geeks have through the EP forums, and I'm still thinking about that and trying to work out what it might mean. (By contrast, Tideline appeals to sentiment without being sentimental, IMO, not that I'm voting for the Hugos or anything).
Also, thanks for providing the story background, mike-resnick, I find that stuff fascinating.