Can you treat yourself in some way, to make good use of the time? Walk around somewhere, or have a beverage you wouldn't normally have? Perhaps a special second breakfast?

I don't have another client until noon, I think, so I'm most likely just going to go home and nap.

And I'm not scheduling any more early-morning or late-night appointments for people, because obviously when I appear to be completely available, people assume my time is not valuable. So that boundary-setting decision will be my treat for the day :-)

I forget what industry you're in, but I think that if you're pretty stringent in your requirements and don't go out of your way, it makes you seem like you're more in demand and thus subconsciously more attractive to the client. Kind of like dating.

I work at a boring office job so I may be talking out of my ass.

Anyway, getting stood up sucks. Sorry. I have been getting stood up by multiple people on Craigslist, and I'm giving the stuff away FOR FREE. People are baffling.

I'm a therapist, and client-therapist relationships are a hell of a lot more like dating than I care to admit to myself. :-)

on preview: I don't mean that in a sexy way.

"I'll be happy to arrange a non-traditional appointment time, however I do have a $50 cancellation fee. I'm sure you understand."

I'm with George Costanza on this one:
"I don't think I've ever been to an appointment in my life where I wanted the other guy to show."

Aaaaaaaaaand my noon client doesn't seem to be showing up either. Sigh.

Sounds a lot like "private lessons" to me, and I suppose the model is pretty similar. My sympathies, nothing sucks quite as much as finding yourself at work, unnecessarily, with nothing to do!