The story you are about to read is true. Some stackers will be kept anonymous to preserve their privacy.
I have been spending more time in the company of bitcoin people in the real world. For years I only made online connections. Now I force myself to leave the house. After a few meetups, those who show up regularly become friends. It doesn’t take long to bond when you all share the same obsession.
A bunch of us decided at a dinner last week that we would plan a trip to PubKey. Erik Cason was scheduled to appear as the featured guest soon, and we were all fans, so four of us decided to car pool to see him. I was thankful for that, because making that long drive at night is getting tougher as I get older.
We all met at the driver’s house in the middle of the afternoon. Pub Key events usually start at 6:00pm, and we had a long journey ahead of us. The driver showed us around his beautiful home. After everyone arrived, he directed us to a Tesla parked in the driveway. I’m not a Tesla expert, but from what I can tell it was an older model 3. Our host/driver explained that the car drove him home from last week’s dinner without him having to control the car in any way. I was impressed.
He then told us that tonight would be the real test: Let’s see if it could drive us to PubKey by itself. Now, keep in mind that the self driving system we would use is not the latest, state of the art system you would find in a new Tesla. Also keep in mind that we would be driving for a substantial part of our journey on the Long Island Expressway, during rush hour, on a weekday. For those who don’t have personal knowledge of this road, known regionally as the LIE, here are a few fun facts. To summarize, the “expressway” was obsolete before it was completed in the early 1960s. Construction, lane closures, furious drivers, horrible car accidents. The LIE has them all. Most famously, singer songwriter Harry Chapin was killed on the LIE back in the early 1980s. I hate the LIE. Everyone hates the LIE. The Tesla would be challenged. Of that I had no doubt. If we survived the first part of the journey, we would be rewarded with a crawl through the carbon monoxide filled Midtown Tunnel. There was a time, decades ago, when I would notice a lane closure on the roadway approaching the tunnel. Now, lanes seem permanently closed, even though those temporary plastic cones would have us believe otherwise. Once through the tunnel, we could enjoy a slow, gridlocked crawl down to Greenwich Village.
I climbed into the back seat. I still think it’s pretty damn cool to sit in a Tesla. I have only been in a few over the years. The roof of the car was clear glass. I gazed up at the sky. We settled in and planned the evening. Then, we were all almost killed. It was only a minute or two into the trip. Am I exaggerating? Maybe a little, but it was not a great start. We were chatting away, including the “driver”, when we all realized, at the same moment, that the Tesla had decided to follow a non existent lane. We came close to smashing into a cement wall at a pretty decent speed. Our driver grabbed the wheel and saved us all. In the moment, it was fun. I think I made a joke about tomorrow’s headline: “Four men killed in a self driving Tesla while on their way to PubKey.”
The fun was just starting. Conversation inside the vehicle turned to the therapeutic benefits of hallucinogenic mushrooms. As various strains (is it really called penis envy?) were discussed, the Tesla decided to merge quickly onto the LIE without fully taking into account the traffic and speed of the other vehicles. Once again, our host saved the day by wresting control of the wheel from the robot brain.
The conversation continued. I have to admit that based upon the general enthusiasm of my fellow travelers, I wondered how many of them (all?) were in fact enjoying a few grams of mushrooms at that very moment. I silently hoped that our driver had not indulged. We needed him to have his full wits about him. I watched him, relaxed and smiling, as he turned full around in his seat to make a point. Was I in the presence of bitcoin’s Neal Cassady? Meanwhile, the Tesla didn’t realize that a truck cab had a lengthy trailer attached. That long low beast was only feet away from the front of our car when our host again came to the rescue. We all laughed.
We drove along the LIE for about an hour. The conversation was very enjoyable. I don’t want to give the impression that all we talked about was mushrooms. We also discussed weed, gambling, and bitcoin, but not necessarily in that order. When we got to the city we noticed that the car’s screen monitor not only showed depictions of each vehicle in the surrounding area, but the human pedestrians as well. I wondered if they would lie flat on the ground if we hit one.
The drive took longer than we expected. We found a spot on the street well within walking distance of PubKey. I had not been back in over a year, so I took some time to absorb the atmosphere when we walked in. I love the place. As usual, there were plenty of drinkers at the bar. PubKey is a thriving local watering hole, so the front area is usually packed with normies who wouldn’t know Satoshi from Sasquatch. In the back were all the bitcoiners. I bought the first round and told the bartender I wanted to pay with bitcoin. He ran a tab. As usual, I was the only one paying with bitcoin. Whenever I pay with bitcoin I can sense the derision of my fellow stackers. They can’t believe I would spend my precious sats when I have the opportunity to get rid of crappy fiat instead. There were screens displaying the bitcoin price everywhere. It just so happened that we picked a night when the btc price was “crashing” under 100K fiat. The few bitcoiners around the bar were noticing. Hearing a few conversations made it seem almost like play by play at a sporting event. “It’s going up!!!” “OH NO, it went back down.” “But, it’s going back up again!” I wanted to slam my Guinness pint on the bar and scream “One bitcoin equals one bitcoin, muthaf*ckers!”, but instead I just sipped my beer.
Soon @ProofOfWorkFitness came over to say hello. We had all met before at various meetups. If you’re not familiar with him, check out this podcast.He told me about his new project, where he wants to establish an organization to fund the arts with bitcoin. It sounded like a great idea.
Tom Pacchia, one of the owners and the public face of @pubkey, stopped by to greet us. You might remember him as the guy who sold Trump a burger for bitcoin during the campaign. He mentioned that he had just completed a podcast with Erik Cason in the studio above the bar, and he recommended that we give it a listen.
Soon all of the bitcoiners headed to the back room, while the oblivious locals continued to drink at the front bar. When I got back there, the only bitcoiner I recognized was Surfer Jim. One of the perks of getting away from the keyboard and attending bitcoin events is the wonderful people you meet. Surfer Jim and @ProofOfWorkFitness are two shining examples. The former even has a song praising his glories.
Erik Cason gave a great talk, as I expected. Here is the recording of the live event.
When it was over we hung around outside PubKey for a while. Then the group decided to get some pizza at John’s Of Bleeker Street. John’s has been open since before the Great Depression, and it serves some of the best pizza in New York City. We had to wait on line outside for a while. I was getting cold and tired. My ability to keep up with my younger compatriots started flagging. Nowadays I can only have so much fun before I pass out. I didn’t even get my afternoon nap. After the pizza we walked back to the car. I guess I seemed a bit worse for wear at that point, since our host and part time driver offered to let me sit in the back seat of the Tesla while they continued the party a little while longer. It was time to put Grandpa Siggy to bed. I eagerly accepted the offer. It occurred to me that if the festivities continued into the wee hours of the morning, I might be called upon to serve as the group’s Oscar Acosta, but luckily our Raul Duke and his friends didn’t encounter any law enforcement.
Eventually we began the return journey. I remember bits and pieces of the conversation at the beginning of the ride, but soon I fell asleep. I have no idea how close to death I may have come while I was unconscious. When I woke up we had arrived at our original meeting place.
It was just another night on the road to a new bitcoin world.