Oh holy cow, $95 is great, I've said it 95 times -- but if it were a priority and we built in a enough time and people we could get it cheaper and have better attendance.

This is the thing. I'm not certain that we could get it all that much cheaper. I think under $99 for a hotel that isn't a total fleabag hotel or doesn't have some other serious limitation like lack of space for our party or a no booze rule is asking a bit much.

Just popping in to say that interest has not waned from this corner of Buffistadom - shitty finances are the only thing that's kept either Hec or me or both from going. (I was really hoping for this year, but an ill-timed yet necessary car repair is probably going to wreck that, damnit.)

And now Matilda is constantly reminding me that we need to make another playdate with her friend Lilly and her friend Iris, so if the economy ever either improves or at least stops decaying so badly I fully expect another generation of eager F2F attendance.

And I've said I'm an 80% sure -- gotta do taxes in the next 2 weeks and that will dictate whether or not I am a 100%.

What with the almost-foreclosure and summer camp (and that my dream job is rapidly turning into more like a "dream of pit viper," which I haven't talked about much since I've been keeping internet stuff on the DL, that's how much of a nest whoa, really? environment it's turned out to be...) well, I am not committing to anything till we know our financial sitch.

If it turns out to be mortage or airfare/summer camp for the kiddo or F2F, I gotta be all...responsible.

Which totally sucks.

There were a bunch of people in Seattle!

N Just to clarify on the hotel price. My original quote was $89 for the current hotel. Then I asked about wifi, saying that was a dealbreaker issue. Normally that is an added $12/day. Instead of that we were offered a rate of $95/day. So we could lower the room rate and and add ons.

Nicole, sounds like we have a bs concensus for the 25th. Would you email Inge?

I was all geared up to come to this years F2F and then our shitweasel of a governor passed his budget repair bill. The new deductions that will be coming out of my paycheck starting this month amount to 10% of my net take-home pay. The good thing is I get 3% back at the end of June when our current contract expires. That still means paring something around $130 a month out of my budget. I haven't figured out my taxes yet, so there is a very slim outside chance I may be able to attend if I get a large enough return, but at this point I'm pretty much resigned to not coming not just this year, but through 2013. (The budget is bienniel.)

I haven't been taking part in the discussion because that's far beyond my event planning horizon, and this year I probably wouldn't know for sure if I could go until I was there, possibly later. It's not for lack of interest, though. FWTW.

Yeah, I'm interested -- it's just that I have no idea what I've doing this summer, so I can't say yet when I will or will not be free.

Ok -- here's the good news: I did my taxes!

Here's the bad news: the amount we owe? Too much. No way to pay it, summer travel and camp for M, and come to the F2F. So I am womaning up, and being resposible AND IT FUCKING BITES.

FUCKITY.

Suz, if you see this, I got your vm and called back but you haven't set up vm yet on your phone so I couldn't leave a msg.

JZ, Sail, Erin, would staying with me or Suzi change anything? I can't do much about the flights but if bunking somewhere other than the hotel helps enough, just let one of us know.

Also, wondering if people like beer enough for me to stock the hospitality suite with what I can get free from work. Employee Sales gives us 3 free cases a month of whatever they have in stock each week. If it's part of the MillerCoors portfolio (Miller, Coors, Keystone, Killians, Blue Moon, Pabst, etc.) I can probably get it sometime between now and the F2F. It's not hard alcohol but it is free.