a comfortably middle-class acquaintance offered me an extra ticket to a midnight showing of a cool flick i wouldn't mind re-watching. BART will be closed by the time it lets out, so it's already an annoying scenario but whatev, that's SF. guess i'll drive and try to find parking.

let's meet for dinner before i said, as the real reason i'm going is to talk with folks.

but they picked a tapas bar (not really dinner imo) i don't find affordable that's in the worst parking area of the city and over 2 miles from the venue. so that would be finding parking twice for a meal i don't feel affordable.

double fail. weighing options.

bowed out of the highly non-optimal dinner (rejected host's offer to pay my way) and feel a weird mix of shame and wanting to cry a little

i guess it's sad to miss out on a good time

@alyx

non-optimal because they offered to pay so you could be there?

If that's the case I know the feeling... and it took me a while to learn that it's okay to accept such generosity because it's my presence that's desired.

But if it's something else, sorry to hear, and you can hang with us still

*hug*

@ThatDamnCat i mentioned the non-optimal aspects in the original post. money mainly.

but thanks yo.

the one time i was in austin (for ion storm!) i had a one-of-a-kind duck quesadilla (place was iron cactus or something?) and i think there was a bridge that bats lived under?

@alyx

Ah, I missed the original post I guess

Yeah, Iron Cactus has the duck quesadilla and there's like 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats under the Congress Avenue Bridge, making it one of the largest urban bat colonies

They're neat to watch

Hope you visit again someday

@ThatDamnCat i totally mentioned the quesadilla to you before 😣

@alyx

Yup

It's okay. I tell stories again and again sometimes.

If you ever visit we'll hit some new places that neither of us has been. Then we'll both have cool stories we can tell others

I'll be in Oakland on the 26th, I think, though I doubt I'm going to get any chance to hang out. It's mainly to see relatives before I help Sara pack all her stuff.

@ThatDamnCat haha. i'm trying not to be a stereotypical old quite yet.

oh that's cool. lmk if that changes.