Official Info: The Second Annual St. Louis Comic Cookout!

[McDuffies]

I, on the other hand, didn't expect img tag.

[Vorticus]

Well let me see. Given the distance I will be driving and what people have already offered to bring I believe I shall bring...chips!

Rah.

[Rkolter]

The Cookout Website Has Been Updated!

At Beth's insistance, I have mentioned officially that we do have cats. If you're allergic to cats, they will probably find you attractive and want to lay across your nose and mouth. If you hate cats, they will probably snuggle on your lap and not leave. It's what cats do. We have three of the cute little furballs of death. You have been warned.

Updated the food info provided so far - thanks folks!

I need the following information:

*** Food information from: Spriteville, Nanda, Stephen Henderson-Grady, Zhan_Dvega, Christwriter, Dark Magician, and Brockway.

*** Confirmation of YES or NO from: Corgan Dane (and spouse), Docbrown03, and AlmightyPyro (and his mom).

There's only three weeks left, so I'll be keeping the site updated more frequently now.

It's not too late to decide to come! Just mention it in the thread!

[Jim North]

You'll have to take me off the guest list.

[Nyke]

You'll have to take me off the guest list.

SONOVA BITCH!

[Rkolter]

You'll have to take me off the guest list.

... What? Why????

::edit:: Ok, that's a first reaction and you prolly would have told us why you couldn't make it if you wanted to.

But this really sucks. I'd been looking forward to seeing you and your wife there. Everything was all set too, even to you having vacation time set aside.

*sigh* Whatever nasty, nasty thing that came up to prevent your showing... I hope you bounce back (if it's sad or painful) and/or beat the living shit out of it (if it's annoying).

See you next year?

[Jim North]

It's stupid shit as usual. We've had a couple of small financial setbacks just recently that've pretty much sapped all our extra money. We're not in any dire situation or anything, but it's probably just enough to keep us from getting up there. The reason I didn't give an explination in my previous post is because I had only just finished doing the rough estimates of our budget for the rest of the month and was . . . well, pretty damn pissed off and didn't want to actually type out "I don't have enough money" right then just in case it ended up pissing me off even more. I'm still severely unhappy about it right now, as this'll be the second year I'll have missed out on, and all because of our continuing rollercoaster finances kicking us in the ass . . . but at least it's just a smouldering burn now instead of pure apoplectic fury.

However . . . if you wish, you could just slide us down to "Maybe" instead of writing us off the list entirely. Though Kat's apparently written the entire trip off and decided to spend what extra money she is bringing in on DVDs and other junk (which we really shouldn't be wasting money on in any case, but oh well), I'm going to deathgrip every last spare dollar I can, try to put in a few extra hours here and there at work when possible, and otherwise do my damndest to make sure that if we really don't show up, it won't be for lack of me trying.

Dammit. Y'know, I grew up dirt poor, and comparatively I generally think that the state Kat and I are in right now is far more preferable . . . but this damn "having the prize dangle just out of reach" crap is still a load of fucking horseshit.

[Corgan_dane]

Everything Jim said is basically the same for me.

A sudden need for tires on my car, and a couple of other things have just drained us financially as usual.

So for now, unless something changes, toss me into the not coming column too.

[Fading Aura]

We're not in any dire situation or anything, but it's probably just enough to keep us from getting up there.

Since it's the second time Jim has tried to make it, I suggest that we start a "Get Jim North to the St. Louis Comic Cookout" fund. Bids would be made in either this or a new thread, and, after a week, we can see how much money we can raise. If it's not enough, nothing will change. If it is enough, we can then send the dough to Jim or give it to him at the cookout.

What do you guys think?

[KODAMA]

;d ...St.Louis? MO? .......does MO stand for Montana?
How far away is montana from New York (12561)?

[Mercury Hat]

MO is Missouri...

[Rkolter]

The website got updated with Jim on the maybe list. I'll take Corgan off the list entirely monday. *sigh*

I'm all for the 'Get Jim to St. Louis' fund. I'm already donating time, space, and food tho. If you're willing to donate to such a fund, offer your money in this thread.

Jim, how much are ya short?

[Nanda]

We're buying a house on June 15... We're not gonna get to go either.

[Rkolter]

Good grief. I'm gonna have to eat a lot of hamburgers...

[Nanda]

Good grief. I'm gonna have to eat a lot of hamburgers...

I'm sorry! I really wanted to go, too. Unfortunately, the things I really want don't usually take precident.

[Mercury Hat]

Good grief. I'm gonna have to eat a lot of hamburgers...

Mail them to meeeee.

[Jim North]

Jim, how much are ya short?

Unfortunately, that's part of the problem . . . I'm not sure. Things are in a kind of flux right at the moment. Kat's not going to be working the couple of weeks ending off this month and a little into next month, so she'll be pulling unemployment, which is a fair chunk less than her normal paychecks.

I, on the other hand, am looking forward to extra hours thanks to Revenge of the Sith hitting the screens next week. I've also stumbled into a bit of good luck that might be getting me an extra three or four hours tomorrow, and I've told the fellah in charge of scheduling that anything else he can do to make sure those hours keep coming my way would be aces. It also depends on how much I can convince Kat to not spend of her own money over the next little while.

Also, part of my financial trouble is that one of the tires on our car has developed a slow leak, and I'm not entirely certain how much it's going to cost to fix it (which we'll have to do before making such a long trip, natch), since I'm not sure if it's just an easily patched leak, a screwy valve stem, or a worn away area that requires we replace the tire completely, or what. A simple patch shouldn't cost much, but getting a whole new tire is a severe pain.

And finally, we were planning on staying at a motel or something up there, and I haven't gotten around to checking the prices of any of them yet. And Kat wants to go to the zoo and see the tigers the day before the cookout actually starts if we do end up going.

Bleaugh. So much trouble.

[Rkolter]

And finally, we were planning on staying at a motel or something up there, and I haven't gotten around to checking the prices of any of them yet. And Kat wants to go to the zoo and see the tigers the day before the cookout actually starts if we do end up going.

Bleaugh. So much trouble.

Well... I can certainly offer you private access to one of the office upstairs if you can bring sleeping equipment (or don't mind pillows and blankets). Beth has offered to donate a stuffed animal for you two to snuggle as well, but it'll probably be a duck or bunny - no big stuffed tigers, sorry.

As for the Zoo - it's FREE. Yup, that's right. The bulk of the St. Louis Zoo (one of the premier zoos in america) is entirely free, and that includes the tigers. Depending on how prepared we are for the cookout at that point, I might even take ya (I took a couple days off before the cookout).

[Jim North]

Kat just got home and we talked over the hotel thing, and we've decided that we're cool staying at y'all's place if y'all are cool with keeping us an extra night, since we'll be coming up for the zoo early and all.

And, hell yah, the free lodging and free zoo gives us a good bit more breathing room. I still need to figure out how much the tire thing is gonna be, and I've just been reminded that we also need to get an oil change (which we've actually needed to get done for . . . oh, a couple of months now ), and there's the other stuff, so we'll have to see how all that goes before we're absolutely certain we can make it up.

Still, things are starting to look a great deal better. Not enough to get out of the "maybe" column just yet, but I'll take what I can get.

[Rkolter]

Sure, you're welcome to stay an extra day.