tommyrot, there is also the Emerygoround, which is a free ride from Amtrak to BART.

Cool. I had a temp job once in Emeryville so I used them to get to and from the Emeryville BART station.

Amtrak ride sounds cool. I wish it weren't so damned expensive. Ever since Homeland Security and TSA, I hate flying with a passion.

It's probably too late to do prospective F2Fers much good, but Air Fare Watchdog is a wonderful site with a blog and several newsletters that will let you know exactly which deals to rush and get.

Amtrak ride sounds cool. I wish it weren't so damned expensive. Ever since Homeland Security and TSA, I hate flying with a passion.

Yeah, if I had more time and money I'd take Amtrak both ways. (Or drive the convertible.) Chicago to SF one way is around $650 (the room is $500 of that - if two people were going together they would split the cost of the room).

Oh you guys, thank you so much for your kind words.

AmyLiz, your words especially struck me. The excited and nervous thing. "Nervous is nice" is one of my favorite movie quotes. It can add a touch of thrill to anticipation. I hope that you can channel the nice nervous, and not waste a minute of F2F fun on the icky nervous. The F2F goes too fast to waste time on not-fun.

Me: "Damn, Kate, you're really sexy."

Kate: "Honey, you haven't got the tits."

Aw Hec, I can sound so snotty sometimes and I truly didn't mean it that way. It's funny (and my comeuppance, if you'd like to look at it that way) that a year and a half after I uttered that charming line, the universe smacked me with a man I fell hopelessly in love with. No tits, chest hair, beard stubble, all the usual boy stuff. Note to self: never say never.

Here's a little story: there's a guy on staff here named DiMarzio who is a legend (read: noun) for resigning with great fanfare for a deluxe job in the private sector. Two weeks of going away lunches and people stopping by to congratulate him, blowout party on this last day - all that good stuff. Two weeks later, he's quietly sitting back at his desk doing his old job. All that hoo-hah, and nothing.

My point, and I do have one, is that I've pulled a DiMarzio. I'm coming to SF2F2006!

After work yesterday I read those wonderful thoughts and commiserations and got all teary (in a good way). Then I checked my email, and found a note from an angel offering a solution to get me to SF! Talk about shock and awe. When I said that I'd been unable to write that post until yesterday, it wasn't hyperbole. I could do it because I finally and truly resigned myself to reality. And this angel DEFIED REALITY. Talk about a superpower. Mine is only crushing sarcasm that I have to keep in a lead-lined box.

Thank you, angel! (I'd name names, but this is a reticent angel.)

Now I'm allowing myself to get excited. I worked very hard to rein it in while I was verifying the solution would work. Now it's possible glitter and porn will soon be exploding out my ears.

OMG I'm gonna meet erika! And Spidra! And see tommyrot again who is one of my Seekrit Buffista Crushes ! And do all that stuff I wasn't gonna get to do! Stop me before I fangirl commentary of every Buffista I can think of. (And don't think I'm not doing it in my head RIGHT NOW) and you know the rest

::gushes into a sticky puddle

YAY!!!!!

YAY FOR KATEFATE (and her angel)!!!!

Wow, Kate. That's very cool.

Yay!

Yay yay yay!!

YAY KATE AND HER ANGEL OF ROCKINGNESS!!!