I went to my local meet up a few nights ago. I am part of a small group of regulars who meet monthly over the past few years. Comraderie is quick to develop when you share a rabid interest in all things bitcoin. I always look forward to hanging out with this group.

The latest gathering was well attended. There were many new local people showing an interest in bitcoin, and the regulars were as excited as ever to chat.

I met two businessmen who are making their way down the rabbit hole. They both provide services I will soon require. When the need arises I will of course look to hire them and pay them in bitcoin.

I also had a nice talk with an apparently well known bitcoin influencer whom I wasn't familiar with. I guess he made the rounds of podcasts before my time. I'm not going to out him here, but he gave me some insight into the community in general. He really impressed me. I saw him in action as he answered questions from newbies. He brought a fresh, inspiring approach, although I'm sure he's had these conversations a million times. He gave me insights into lots of other well known bitcoiners, many of whom are his close friends. He told me that bitcoin has given him friendships with people all over the planet. You could tell he just loved talking about bitcoin. He highly recommended attending conferences, though he dismissed the upcoming Vegas event as having "too many shitcoiners."

He then gave a shout out to Austin, declaring Bit Block Boom the best conference to attend.

These meet ups are unstructured. There's no formal agenda. It's just a group of people in a bar. That doesn't mean no learning goes on. I always learn something. I also got the opportunity to whip out my graphene Pixel and open the Robosats app for a quick lesson. A group of guys I was talking to were bemoaning the fact that they only could buy KYC bitcoin. Being able to show them how robosats works, in real time, is better than watching a YouTube video, in my opinion. My graphene OS phone also spurred some constructive talk about privacy. Yeah, I was showing off. I felt like James Bond.

I almost decided not to attend. A confluence of sad personal stuff and an overall disappointment with the environment (core v knots, ETFs/Saylor) had me down.

I'm glad I went. There's nothing like bullshitting with fellow bitcoiners in person to lift your spirits.