To watch Léon get tonked tomorrow. Black & gold bar or pub; the LAFC website lists Brennan’s on Lincoln (& Baja Venice..!?) which is a fun bar, but a bit “generic sport” usually.

Hi all! Looking to get some feedback on the following itinerary for Late Summer this year.
Day 1 - Arrive + Meal

• Arrive HND ~4PM
• Dinner in Tokyo (Omakase Sushi Bar in Nihombashi)
• Stay with friends in Tokyo

Day 2 - Hakone Loop (weather permitting)

• Train Tokyo to Odawara
• Odawara Castle
• Hakone Tozan Railway/Cable Car to Gora
• Sengokuhara Susuki Grass Fields **
• Eat black eggs in Owakudani Valley
• Ropeway to Lake Ashinoko
• Hakone Sightseeing cruise
• Hakone Tozan Bus to Odawara
• Train Odawara to Tokyo
• Dinner in Tokyo
• Stay with friends in Tokyo

Day 3 - Fukushima Prefecture

• Train to Koriyama (2 hr from tokyo station 1)
• Get rental car
• Goshikinuma (5-color ponds)
• Cherry Trees along Kan-non-ji River **
• Shidahama Beach biking **
• Higashiyama Onsen Geisha performance
• Stay at Mukaitaki Ryokan

Day 4 - Aizu-Wakamatsu

• IImori Hill, last stand of white tiger corp **
• Tsurugajo castle
• Oyakuen Gardens (medicinal gardens) **
• Samurai Houses **
• Kamishiroya restaurant Buckwheat Soba
• Aizu Sauce Katsudon **
• Aizu Black Hair Wagyu
• Agemanju (deep-fried bean paste sweet) **
• Suehiro Sake Brewery
• Hotel New Palace

** Plan A - Sendai **
Day 5

• Kitakata Ramen (on the way out) **
• Risshakuji Temple (Yamadera)
• Akiu Great Falls
• Check into hotel by Rakuten Mobile Park Miyagi
• Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles Baseball
• Rakuten STAY x EAGLES

Day 6

• Matsushima Bay Hot air balloon bay view
• Morning market **
• Daikannon Colossus Statue **
• Zuihoden Temple (Masoleuom of Date Masamune) **
• Matsushima Bay Grilled Oysters **
• Drive back to Koriyama to return rental car
• Train back to Tokyo

** Plan B - Niigata Prefecture **
Day 5

• Drive to Niigata
• Kiyotsu Gorge
• Bijin-bayashi (Beauty Forest) **
• Hoshitoge Rice Terraces
• Takada Castle
• Stay in Jōetsu

Day 6

• Kōya-ike Hütte
• Naena Falls
• Itoigawa Beach (Jadite Beach) **
• Oyashirazu Beach
• Return Car in Nagano
• Train to Tokyo (2hr)

** Back in Tokyo **
Day 7

• Giants Baseball @ Tokyo Dome
• Imperial Palace and East Gardens**
• Asakusa Mini Pleasure Cruise**
• Corridor Gai (Kokappo Ohashi Ginza) OR an Izikaya

Day 8

• Sumo Tournament
• Head to Airport/Depart

"**" Denotes an "if time allows" -- we can skip these if we are not feeling it at the time
Things we like - Food, History, Sports, Castles, Temples, Nature/Hiking
We will not have a fluent Japanese-speaking person with us.
Questions:
Sendai or Niigata?
Food or hotel recommendations?
Are we crazy?
Something we're missing on the route? Bogus activities that we could skip?
Alternatives if there is poor weather in Hakone?
If we have 3 people, can we stay at a Ryokan?
Thanks for all your contributions to this wonderful subreddit. It has helped immensely! Domo Arigato Gozaimasu!

I've shared fiction here before and it didn't go altogether too poorly, so I'm going to press my luck and do it again. This was written about a year ago, and I'm tired of trying to peddle it to lit magazines. Might as well share it here, know that it met a few eyeballs, and have done with it.
It's relevant to the sub insofar as it's about urban alienation and the working conditions at a small business run by IN THIS HOUSE WE BELIEVE people. (I tried to pitch it as a story of the great resignation with a momentary flicker of cosmic horror.) It's based on a similar job I took on after getting laid off during the lockdown, and the circumstances of the main character's breakup are faintly similar to one I went through several years back (her job sucked the life out of her).
Without further ado:
* * *
It was getting close to midnight, and the temperature outside was still above 80 degrees. We’d locked up the shop at 10:15 and walked over to Twenty, the dive bar on Poplar Street, where a single wall-mounted air conditioner and four wobbly ceiling fans weren’t putting up much resistance against the July heat baking the place from the outside and the dense mass of bodies giving it a stifling fever from within.
Just now I came close to saying it was a Wednesday night, because that was usually when the cyclists descended upon Avenue Brew, the gritty-but-bougie craft beer and sandwich shop I was working at back then. Every Wednesday between March and November, about fifteen to twenty-five Gen Xers dressed in skintight polyester, all packages and camel toes and fanny packs, locked up their thousand-dollar bikes on the sidewalk and lined up for IPAs and paninis. They reliably arrived around 8:00, an hour before we closed, making it impossible to get started on the closing checklist and leave on time at 10:00. The worst of them were demanding and rude, and even the best got raucous and stubborn after a couple drinks. There were nights when bringing in the sidewalk tables couldn’t be done without arguing with them. Most were sub-par tippers, to boot.
After Wednesday came and went that week without so much as a single 40-something in Ray Bans and padded shorts stopping in to double-fist two cans of Jai Alai, we dared to hope the cyclists had chosen another spot to be their finish line from there on out. But no—they’d only postponed their weekly ride, and swarmed us on Friday night instead.
I was the last person to find out; I was clocked in as purchaser that evening. The position was something like a promotion I'd received a year earlier: for twenty hours a week, I got to retreat from the public and sit in the back room with the store laptop, reviewing sales and inventory, answering emails from brewery reps, and ordering beer, beverages, and assorted paper goods. When I put in hours as purchaser, my wage went up from $11 to $15 an hour, but I was removed from the tip pool. On most days, tips amounted to an extra two or three dollars an hour, so I usually came out ahead.
This was back in 2021. I don't know what Avenue Brew pays these days.
Anyway, at about 8:15, I stepped out to say goodbye to everyone and found the shop in chaos. Friday nights were generally pretty active, the cyclists' arrival had turned the place into a mob scene. The line extended to the front door. The phone was ringing. The Grubhub tablet dinged like an alarm clock without a snooze button. Danny was on the sandwich line and on the verge of losing his temper. Oliver was working up a sweat running food, bussing tables, and replenishing ingredients from the walk-in. The unflappable Marina was on register, and even she seemed like she was about to snap at somebody.
What else could I do? I stayed until closing to answer the phone, process Grubhub orders, hop on and off the second register, and help Danny with sandwich prep. After the tills were counted out, I stayed another hour to take care of the dishes, since nobody had a chance to do a first load. Oliver was grateful, even though he grumbled about having to make some calls and rearrange Sunday's schedule so I could come in a couple hours late. Irene and Jeremy, Avenue Brew's owners, would kick his ass if he let me go into overtime.
Danny suggested that we deserved a few drinks ourselves after managing to get through the shift without killing anyone. Not even Marina could find a reason to disagree with him.
The neighborhood had undergone enough gentrification to support an upscale brunch spot, an ice cream parlor, a gourmet burger restaurant, a coffee and bahn mi shop, and Avenue Brew (to name a few examples), but not yet quite enough that the people who staffed them couldn’t afford to live within a ten-minute walk from the main avenue where all these hep eateries stood between 24-hour corner stores with slot machines in back, late-night Chinese and Mexico-Italian takeout joints with bulletproof glass at the counters, and long-shuttered delis and shoe stores. Twenty on Poplar was the watering hole set aside for people like us. It was dim, a bit dilapidated, and inexpensive, and usually avoided by denizens of the condos popping up on the vacant lots and replacing clusters of abandoned row houses.
When we arrived, Kyle waved us over. He didn’t work at Avenue Brew anymore, but still kept up with a few of us. He was at Twenty at least four nights out of the week.
So there we all were. I sat with a brooding stranger freestyling to himself in a low mumble on the stool to my left and Oliver on my right, who tapped at his phone and nursed a bottle of Twisted Tea. To Oliver’s right sat Marina, staring at nothing in particular and trying to ignore Danny, who stood behind her, closer than she would have liked, listening to Kyle explain the crucial differences between the Invincible comic book and the Invincible web series.
I recall being startled back to something like wakefulness when it seemed to me that the ceiling had sprouted a new fan. I blinked my eyes, and it wasn’t there anymore. It reminded me of an incident from when I was still living with my folks in South Jersey and still had a car, and was driving home from a friend’s house party up in Bergen County. It was 6:30 AM, I hadn’t slept all night, and needed to get home so I could get at least little shuteye before heading to Whole Foods for my 11:00 AM shift. I imagined I passed beneath the shadows of overpasses I knew weren’t there, and realized I was dreaming at the wheel.
I was pretty thoroughly zombified at that point. Heather and I had broken up for good the night before, and I hadn't gotten even a minute of sleep. Calling out at Avenue Brew was tough. Unless you found someone willing to cover your shift on like six hours' notice, you were liable to get a writeup, a demotion, or your hours cut if you couldn't produce a doctor's note. So I loaded up on caffeine pills and Five-Hour Energy bottles at the corner store, and powered through as best I could.
I finished the last thimbleful of Blue Moon in my glass. Oliver wiped the sweat from the back of his neck with a napkin and covered his mouth to stifle a laugh at the KiwiFarms thread he was scrolling through. Pool balls clacked; somebody swore and somebody laughed. The TouchTunes box was playing Bob Dylan’s “Rain Day Woman #12 & 35,” and enough bleary 40-something men around the bar were bobbing their heads and mouthing the words to make it impossible to determine which one of them paid two bucks to hear it. A guy by the cigarette machine who looked like a caricature of Art Carney in flannel and an old Pixies T-shirt was accosting a woman who must have been a toddler when he hit drinking age, and she momentarily made eye contact with me as she scanned the area for a way out. Danny was shouting over the bartender’s head, carrying on a conversation with the Hot Guy from Pizza Stan’s, who was sitting on the horseshoe’s opposite arm.
I never got his name, but when Oliver first referred to him as the Hot Guy from Pizza Stan’s, I knew exactly who he meant. Philly scene kid par excellence. Mid-20s, washed-out black denim, dyed black hair, thick bangs, and dark, gentle eyes. He was only truly alluring when he was on the job, because he seldom smiled then—and when he smiled, he broke the spell by exposing his teeth, stained a gnarly shade of mahogany from too much smoking and not enough brushing.
“How’s Best? Marcus still a joker?” Danny asked him.
“Yeah, you know Marcus. You know how he is.”
So the Hot Guy had been working at Best Burger (directly across the street from Avenue Brew) ever since Pizza Stan’s owners mismanaged the place unto insolvency. (Afterwards it was renovated and reopened as a vegan bakery—which incidentally closed down about a month ago.) Danny used to work at Best Burger, but that ended after he got into a shouting match with the owner. I happened to overhear it while I was dragging in the tables and collecting the chairs from the sidewalk the night it happened. It wasn’t any of my business, and I tried not to pay attention, but they were really tearing into each other. A month later, Oliver welcomed Danny aboard at Avenue Brew. I hadn’t known he’d been interviewed, and by then it was too late to mention the incident. But I’d have been a hypocrite to call it a red flag after the way I resigned from my position as Café Chakra's assistant manager two years earlier—not that we need to go dredging that up right now. Let's say there was some bad blood and leave it at that.
Anyway, I was thinking about giving in and buying a pack of cigarettes from the machine—and then remembered that Twenty didn’t have a cigarette machine. I looked again. The Art Carney-lookalike was still there, fingering his phone with a frown, but the girl was gone—and so was the cigarette machine.
I had only a moment to puzzle over this before Danny clapped me on the shoulder and thrust a shot glass in front of me.
“Starfish!” he said. (Danny called me Starfish. Everybody else called me Pat.) “You look like you need some juice.”
He distributed shots to everyone else. Marina declined hers, but changed her mind when Kyle offered to take it instead.
She and Kyle had stopped sleeping together after Kyle left Avenue Brew to work at the Victory taproom on the Parkway, but Marina was still concerned about his bad habits, which Danny delighted in encouraging.
We all leaned in to clink our glasses. Before I could find an appropriate moment to ask Marina if I could bum a cigarette, she got up to visit the bathroom. Danny took her seat and bowed his head for a conspiratorial word with Kyle.
I watched from the corner of my eye and tried to listen in. Like Marina, I was a little worried about Kyle. He got hired at Avenue Brew around the same time I did, just before the pandemic temporarily turned us into a takeout joint. He was a senior at Drexel then, an English major, and sometimes talked about wanting to either find work in publishing or carve out a career as a freelance writer after graduating. But first he intended to spend a year getting some life in before submitting himself to the forever grind.
He read a lot of Charles Bukowski and Hunter Thompson. He relished the gritty and sordid, and had already been good at sniffing it out around the neighborhood and in West Philly before Danny introduced him to cocaine, casinos, strip clubs, and a rogue’s gallery of shady but fascinating people. (None were really Danny’s friends; just fellow passengers who intersected with the part of his life where he sometimes went to Parx, sometimes came out ahead, sometimes spent his winnings on coke, and sometimes did bumps at titty bars.) Kyle recounted these adventures with a boyish enthusiasm for the naked reality of sleaze, like a middle schooler telling his locker room buddies about catching his older brother in flagrante and seeing so-and-so body parts doing such-and-such things.
Marina hated it. She never said as much to me, but she was afraid that the template Kyle set for his life during his “year off” was in danger of becoming locked in. The anniversary of his graduation had already passed, and now here he was trying to convince Danny to contribute a couple hundred dollars toward a sheet of acid his guy had for sale. He wasn't doing much writing lately.
I was the oldest employee at Avenue Brew (as I write this I’m 37, but fortunately I don’t look it), and when Kyle still worked with us I felt like it was my prerogative to give him some advice. The longer he waited to make inroads, I once told him, the more likely he’d be seen as damaged goods by the publishing world. He needed to jam his foot in the door while he was still young.
I could tell the conversation bored him, and didn’t bring up the subject again.
The bartender took my glass and curtly asked if I’d like another drink.
“No thanks, not yet,” I answered.
She slid me my bill.
I missed the old bartender, the one she’d replaced. I forget her name, but she was ingenuous and energetic and sweet. Pretty much everyone had some sort of crush on her. Sometimes she came into Avenue Brew for lunch, and tipped us as well as we tipped her. Maybe three months before that night—Danny witnessed it—she suddenly started crying and rushed out the door. Everyone at the bar mutely looked to each other for an explanation. (Fortunately for Twenty, the kitchen manager hadn’t left yet, and picked up the rest of her shift.)
She never came back. None of us had seen her since. But drafts still had to be poured and bottlecaps pulled off, and now here was another white woman in her mid-twenties wearing a black tank top, a pushup bra, and a scrunchie, same as before. Twenty’s regulars grew accustomed to not expecting to see the person she’d replaced, and life went on.
“How’re you doing?” I asked Oliver, just to say something to somebody, and to keep my thoughts from wandering back to Heather.
“Just kind of existing right now,” he answered. His phone lay face-up on the counter. He was swiping through Instagram, and I recognized the avatar of the user whose album he hate-browsed.
“And how’s Austin been?” I asked.
“Oh, you know. Not even three weeks after getting over the jetlag from his trip back from the Cascades, he’s off touring Ireland.” He shook his head. “Living his best life.”
He’d hired Austin on a part-time basis in September. We needed a new associate when Emma was promoted to replace a supervisor who'd quit without even giving his two weeks. There was a whole thing. I'm having a hard time recalling the guy's name, but I liked him well enough. He was a good worker and he seemed like a bright kid, but he was—well, he was young. Naïve. One day he found Jeremy sitting in the back room with his laptop, and took advantage of the open-door policy to ask why the store manager and supervisors didn’t get health benefits or paid time off. Jeremy told him it "was being worked on," and that he couldn’t discuss it any further at that time. I understand the kid got argumentative, though I never knew precisely what was said.
Irene started visiting the shop a lot more often after that, almost always arriving when the kid was working. No matter what he was doing, she’d find a reason to intervene, to micromanage and harangue him, and effectively make his job impossible. A coincidence, surely.
It’s something I still think about. By any metric, Jeremy and Irene have done very well for themselves. They’re both a little over 40 years old. I remember hearing they met at law school. In addition to Avenue Brew, they own a bistro in Francisville and an ice cream parlor in Point Breeze. They have a house on the Blue Line, send their son to a Montessori school, and pull up to their businesses in a white Volkswagen ID.4. But whenever the subject of benefits, wages, or even free shift meals came up, they pled poverty. It simply couldn’t be done. But they liked to remind us about all they did to make Avenue Brew a fun place to work, like let the staff pick the music and allow Oliver and me to conduct a beer tasting once a day. They stuck Black Lives Matter, Believe Women, and Progress flag decals on the front door and windows, and I remember Irene wearing a Black Trans Lives Matter shirt once or twice when covering a supervisor's shift. None of the college students or recent graduates who composed most of Avenue Brew's staff could say the bosses weren't on the right team. And yet...
I'm sorry—I was talking about Austin. He was maybe 30 and already had another job, a “real” job, some sort of remote gig lucrative enough for him to make rent on a studio in the picturesque Episcopal church down the street that had been converted into upscale apartments some years back. Austin wasn’t looking for extra cash. He wanted to socialize. To have something to do and people to talk to in the outside world. He wanted to make friends, and all of us could appreciate that—but it’s hard to be fond of a coworker who irredeemably sucks at his job. Austin never acted with any urgency, was inattentive to detail, and even after repeated interventions from Oliver and the supervisors, he continued to perform basic tasks in bafflingly inefficient ways. Having Austin on your shift meant carrying his slack, and everyone was fed up after a few months. Oliver sat him down, told him he was on thin ice, and gave him a list of the areas in which he needed to improve if he didn’t want to be let go.
When Austin gave Oliver the indignant “I don’t need this job” speech, it was different from those times Danny or I told a boss to go to hell and walked out. Austin truly didn’t need it. He basically said the job was beneath him, and so was Oliver.
It got deep under Oliver’s skin. He did need the job and had to take it seriously, even when it meant being the dipshit manager chewing out a man four or five years his senior. He earned $18 an hour (plus tips when he wasn’t doing admin work), had debts to pay off, and couldn't expect to get any help from his family.
The important thing, though, the part I distinctly remember, was that Oliver was looking at a video of a wading bird Austin had recorded. An egret, maybe. White feathers, long black legs, pointy black beak. Austin must have been standing on a ledge above a creek, because he had an overhead view of the bird as it stood in the water, slowly and deliberately stretching and retracting its neck, eyeing the wriggling little shadows below. As far as the fish could know, they were swimming around a pair of reeds growing out of the silt. The predator from which they extended was of a world beyond their understanding and out of their reach.
The video ended. Oliver moved on to the next item: a photograph of the bird from the same perspective, with a fish clamped in its beak. Water droplets flung from the victim's thrashing tail caught the sunlight. And I remember now, I clearly remember, the shapes of like twelve other fish stupidly milling about the bird's feet, unperturbed and unpanicked.
Danny peered at Oliver’s phone and observed a resemblance between the bird—its shape and bearing, and the composition of the photograph—and a POV porn video shot from behind and above, and he told us so. Elaborately. He made squawking noises.
“And mom says I’m a degenerate,” Oliver sighed. “Can you practice your interspecies pickup artist shit somewhere else?” Oliver flicked his wrist, shooing Danny off, and held his phone in front of his face to signal that he was done talking.
Danny sagged a little on his stool and turned away. I sometimes felt bad for him. For all his faults, he had the heart of a puppy dog. He really did think of us as his tribe. There was nobody else who’d only ever answer “yes” when you asked him to pick up a shift, and he did it completely out of loyalty.
He was turning 29 in a week. I wondered how many people would actually turn out to celebrate with him at the Black Taxi. Kyle probably would—but even he regarded Danny more as a source of vulgar entertainment than a friend.
Then it happened again. When I turned to speak to Oliver, there’d been a pair of pool cues leaning side-by-side against the wall a few stools down. Now they were gone.
This time it might have been my imagination. Somebody passing by could have casually snatched them up and kept walking.
But a moment later I seemed to notice a second TouchTunes box protruding from the wall directly behind me. I let it be.
Marina returned from the bathroom. Danny rose and offered her back her seat with an exaggerated bow. Before she got settled, I asked if she’d like to step outside with me. She withdrew her pack of Marlboro Menthols from her canvas bag, which she left sitting on the stool to deter Danny from sitting back down.
Marina never minded letting me bum cigarettes from time to time. I couldn’t buy them for myself anymore; it’s a habit I could never keep under control, and was only getting more expensive. Like everything else in the world. About once a month I reimbursed her by buying her a pack.
The air out on the sidewalk was as hot as the air inside Twenty, but easier to breathe. After lighting up, Marina leaned against the bricks and sighed.
“I wish Oliver would fire Danny already and get it over with.”
I nodded. Marina rarely talked about anything but work.
“He sneaks drinks and doesn't think anyone notices he's buzzed,” she went on. “He steals so much shit and isn’t even a little subtle about it. He’s going to get Oliver in trouble. And he’s a creep.”
“Yeah,” I said. These were her usual complaints about Danny, and they were all true. “At least he’s better than Austin.”
“That’s a low bar.”
Three dirt bikes and an ATV roared down the lonely street, charging through stop sign after stop sign, putting our talk on hold.
“Remind me. You’ve got one semester left, right?” I asked after the noise ebbed.
“Yep.”
Marina was a marketing major at Temple. She’d had an internship during the spring semester, and her boss told her to give her a call the very minute she graduated. Her parents in central Pennsylvania couldn’t pay her rent or tuition for her, so she was a full-time student and a full-time employee at Avenue Brew. Her emotional spectrum ranged from "tired" to "over it." She’d been waiting tables and working at coffee shops since she was seventeen, had no intention of continuing for even a day longer than she had to, and feared the escape hatch would slam shut if she dallied too long after prying it open.
She’d considered majoring in English, like Kyle. She went for marketing instead. I couldn’t blame her.
“Are you okay?” she asked. “You’ve been kind of off all day.”
“I’m terrible.”
“Why?”
I gave dodgy answers, but she asked precisely the right follow-up questions to get me going about what happened with Heather the night before.
It was the new job. Before the pandemic, Heather worked as a server at a Center City bar and grill. (That's where I met her; we were coworkers for about a year, and then I left to work Café Chakra because it was quieter and closer to where I lived.) When the place closed its doors and laid everyone off during the lockdown, she got a stopgap job at the Acme on Passyunk, and hated it. Then in March, she found a bar-and-lounge gig in a ritzy hotel on Broad Street. Very corporate. Excellent pay, great benefits. Definitely a step up. But her new employers made Irene and Jeremy look like Bob and Linda Belcher by comparison. It was the kind of place where someone had recently gotten herself fired for leaving work to rush to the hospital after getting the news that her grandmother was about to be taken off life support, and not finding someone to come in and cover the last two hours of her shift.
Heather seldom worked fewer than fifty-five hours a week, and her schedule was even more erratic than mine. At least once a week she left the hotel at 1:00 or 2:00 AM and returned at 9:00 the next morning. Neither of us could remember the last time she’d had two consecutive days off, and it had been over a month since one of mine overlapped with one of hers. She’d spent it drinking alone at home. All she wanted was some privacy.
I’d biked to South Philly to meet her when she got home at 1:30. The argument that killed our relationship for good began around 2:30, when I complained that we never had sex anymore. Heather accused me of only caring about that, when she was so exhausted and stressed that her hair was falling out in the shower. Quit the job? She couldn’t quit. The money was too good. She had student loans, medical bills, and credit card debt, and for the first time in her life she could imagine paying it all off before hitting menopause.
So, yeah, I was cranky about our sex life being dead in the water. Say whatever you like. But at that point, what were we to each other? We did nothing together anymore but complain about work before one or both of us fell asleep. That isn’t a relationship.
She said my hair always smelled like sandwiches, even after bathing, and she was done pretending it didn’t turn her off. I told her she was one to talk—she always reeked of liquor. As things escalated, we stopped caring if her roommates heard us. “You want to be a father?” she shouted around 4:00 AM. “Making what you make? That poor fucking kid.”
We fought until sunrise, and I left her apartment with the understanding that I wouldn’t be coming back, wouldn’t be calling her ever again. I biked home and sat on the steps facing the cement panel that was my house’s backyard. After my phone died and I couldn’t anaesthetize myself with dumb YouTube videos or make myself feel crazy staring at the download button for the Tinder app, I watched the sparrows hopping on and off the utility lines for a while.
At 11:40 I went inside. One of my roommates was already in the shower, so the best I could do was put on a clean Avenue Brew T-shirt before walking to the shop and clocking in at noon to help deal with the lunch rush.
“That’s a lot,” Marina finally said. “Sorry.”
I don’t know what I was expecting her to say. She was sixteen years my junior, after all, and just a coworker. She didn’t need to hear any of this, and I definitely didn't need to be telling her. But who else was there to tell?
She’d already finished her cigarette. I still had a few puffs left. She went inside.
I decided to call it a night.
The second TouchTunes box was gone—naturally. Danny had taken my stool, and regarded my approach with a puckish you snooze you lose grin. I wasn’t going to say anything. I’d just pay my bill, give everyone a nod goodnight, and walk the five blocks back home.
And then Danny disappeared.
One second, he was there. The next—gone.
Danny didn’t just instantaneously vanish. Even when something happens in the blink of an eye, you can still put together something of a sequence. I saw him—I seemed to see him—falling into himself, collapsing to a point, and then to nothing.
You know how sometimes a sound is altogether inaudible unless you’re looking at the source—like when you don’t realize somebody’s whispering at you, and can then hear and understand them after they get your attention? I think that was the case here. I wouldn't have known to listen if I hadn't seen it happen. What I heard lingered for two, maybe three seconds, and wasn't any louder than a fly buzzing inside a lampshade. A tiny and impossibly distant scream, pitchshifted like a receding ambulance siren into a basso drone...
I don’t know. I don’t know for sure. I’m certain I remember a flash of red, and I have the idea of Danny’s trunk expanding, opening up as it imploded. A crimson flower, flecked white, with spooling pink stalks—and Danny’s wide-eyed face above it, drawn twisting and shrinking into its petals.
For an instant, Twenty’s interior shimmered. Not shimmered, exactly—glitched would be a better word. If you’re old enough to remember the fragmented graphics that sometimes flashed onscreen when you turned on the Nintendo without blowing on the cartridge, you’ll have an idea of what I mean. It happened much too fast, and there was too much of it to absorb. The one clear impression I could parse was the mirage of a cash register flickering upside-down above the pool table.
Not a cash register. The shape was familiar, but the texture was wrong. I think it was ribbed, sort of like a maggot. I think it glistened. Like—camo doesn’t work anymore when the wearer stops crouching behind a bush and breaks into a run. Do you get what I’m saying?
Nobody else seemed to notice. The pool balls clacked. A New Order track was playing on the TouchTunes box. A nearby argument about about Nick Sirianni continued unabated.
Finally, there was a downward rush of air—and this at least elicited a reaction from the bartender, who slapped my bill to keep it from sailing off the counter.
“Danny,” I said.
“Danny?” Kyle asked me quietly. His face had gone pale.
“Danny?” Oliver repeated in a faraway voice.
After a pause, Kyle blinked a few times. “You heard from him?”
“God forbid,” said Marina. “When he quit I was like, great, I can keep working here after all.”
“Oh, come on—”
“Kyle. Did I ever show you those texts he sent me once at three in the morning?” The color had returned to Oliver’s face.
“No, what did he say?”
Oliver tapped at his phone and turned the screen toward Kyle.
“Oh. Oh, jeez.”
“Right? Like—if you want to ask me something, ask me. You know? Don’t be weirdly accusatory about it…”
I pulled a wad of fives and ones from my pocket, threw it all onto the counter, and beelined for the exit without consideration for the people I squeezed through and shoved past on the way.
I heard Marina saying “let him go.”
I went a second consecutive night without sleep. Fortunately I wasn’t scheduled to come in the next day.
The schedule. It’s funny. Oliver was generally great at his job, and even when he wasn’t, I cut him a lot of slack because I knew Irene and Jeremy never gave him a moment’s peace. But I could never forgive him those times he waited until the weekend to make up and distribute the schedule. This was one of those weeks he didn’t get around to it until Saturday afternoon. When I found it in my inbox, Danny’s name wasn’t anywhere on it.
As far as I know, nobody who hadn’t been at Twenty that night asked what happened to him. We were a bit overstaffed as it was, and everyone probably assumed Danny was slated for the chopping block. The part-timers were, for the most part, happy to get a few additional hours.
Oliver abruptly quit around Labor Day after a final acrimonious clash with the owners. I never found out the details, and I never saw him again. Jeremy and Irene took turns minding the store while a replacement manager was sought. None of the supervisors would be pressured into taking the job; they knew from Oliver what they could expect.
About three weeks after Oliver left, I came in for my purchasing shift and found Jeremy waiting for me in the back room. I knew it was serious when he didn’t greet me with the awkward fist-bump he ordinarily required of his male employees.
“You’ve seen the numbers,” he said. Business for the summer had fallen short of expectations, it was true, and he and Irene had decided to rein in payroll expenses. My purchaser position was being eliminated. Its responsibilities would be redistributed among the supervisors and the new manager, when one was found. In the meantime, I'd be going back to the regular $11 an hour (plus tips of course) associate position full-time.
Jeremy assured me I'd be first in the running for supervisor the next time there was an opening.
I told him it was fine, I was done, and if he’d expected the courtesy of two weeks’ notice, he shouldn’t have blindsided me like that.
“Well, that’s your choice,” he answered, trying not to look pleased. His payroll problem was solving itself.
I racked up credit card debt for a few months. Applied for entry-level museum jobs that might appreciate my art history degree. Aimed for some purchasing and administrative assistant gigs, and just for the hell of it, turned in a resume for a facilitator position at an after-school art program. Got a few interviews. All of them eventually told me they’d decided to go in a different direction. I finally got hired to bartend at Hops from Underground, a microbrewery on Fairmount.
I’m still there. The money’s okay, but it fluctuates. Hours are reasonable. I’m on their high-deductible health plan. There’s a coworker I’ve been dating. Sort of dating. You know how it goes. In this line of work you get so used to people coming and going that you learn not to get too attached. I walk past Avenue Brew a few times a week, but stopped peering in through the window when I didn't recognize the people behind the counter anymore.

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Why does my drinking Bud Light offend you?
May 30, 2023 4:39 pm • Last Updated: May 30, 2023 4:41 pm
By Mike DiMauro
Day Assistant Sports Editor
[[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
News item: Anthony Bass, a pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays, shared a video Monday via Instagram endorsing an anti-LGBTQ boycott of brands such as Target and Bud Light.
​
"Here's the reason biblically why I believe Christians have gotta be boycotting Target, Bud Light, and any other corporation that's pushing the things they're pushing,” Bass said. “I think a lot of people make this into a political issue, or they say, 'Oh, what's the big deal?’
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“This is evil, this is demonic, we won't stand for it, we're not going to go to the stores anymore and we're not going to give you our money.”
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It would be impolite to wish that Mr. Bass, who throws a ball for a living, blows out his elbow. Perhaps then he could simply blow it out his tailpipe.
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Because I’ve grown tired of sanctimonious and hypocritical moral outrage over what Target and Bud Light are “pushing,” while it’s permissible that Bass and his ilk get to “push” their beliefs on the rest of us.
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Example: In the last two months or so, I’ve been questioned a half dozen times in public as to why I’m drinking Bud Light. Seems people like Bass have objected to Anheuser Busch’s marketing partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. Their boycott of Bud Light has led to a decrease in sales both locally and nationally. (Local bar and restaurant owners say Bud Light sales are down almost 30 percent.)
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It is their right, of course, to boycott the product. I’m just curious as to why what I’m drinking is their business. I drink Bud Light because I like it. And I’m still drinking Bud Light because I will not marginalize people based on gender, race, religion, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. I’m respectful enough to support someone else’s desire to evolve into another gender. And I’m not stupid enough to believe that my decision to drink Bud Light changes who I am or what I stand for in any possible way.
​
But I wonder why it’s so important for people — and the questions to me haven’t all come from men — to announce their disdain for a bottle of beer, tacitly implying their sexuality is “normal.” Remember this one and write it down: If you are truly comfortable with who you are, you needn’t announce anything to anyone.
​
And yet to further illustrate how screwed up this country really is, there’s this: Anheuser-Busch hasn’t merely been accused of alienating its traditional customer base with the partnership, but some LGBTQ+ campaigners have also criticized the company for not defending its ties with Mulvaney.
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Amid all the finger-pointing and fear-fanning, the truth hides in the corner, too scared to emerge. The truth is that we are supposed to think critically, weigh evidence from both sides and then make up our own minds. Instead, we’ve become a country hell bent on legislating whatever cause we think is right and just, while burying the other side from all consideration.
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It’s political tribalism. All or nothing. One side or the other. If you’re not in agreement with every morsel of the transgender movement, you are a snarling, hating, infidel. If you’re not in total agreement with Anthony Bass and his beliefs, you’re going to wither in hell.
​
But what if — and hold on to your ascots here — two conflicting positions can still be true? Example: What if I support Bud Light’s decision to use a transgender influencer, but also believe that transgender high school athletes belong in their own division?
​
I disagree with the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference’s policy complying with a state law that requires all high school students be treated according to their gender identity. We should consider a sports-centric law that acknowledges sports' unique challenges and accommodates the physical component for success that exists virtually nowhere else in society.
​
Sex discrimination in education, health care, housing and financial credit have no place in this country. But we must — must — realize and accept that sports require a physical component to succeed that calls for different guidelines.
​
Put it this way: Applying to a school or for health care, housing or financial credit requires no physical component to succeed. Sports require speed, strength and agility and do not fit under the same umbrella. And yet sports are routinely shoved into the same arguments about unfair treatment. Injustices get piled on for rhetorical usefulness, even though they're not applicable.
​
The male born composition has inherent physical advantages, rare exceptions noted. But in the aggregate, there are physiologic differences between biological males and females. I don’t believe writing that makes me transphobic. We should respect a person’s pronoun of choice. But that doesn't mean we have to blindly agree with claims that are not supported by science.
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Yet that appears to be the new end game in this country. Blind agreement. Their side or yours. And here I sit, sipping my Bud Light, trying to figure out why so many of us act like the last three letters of Anthony Bass’ last name.
​
This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro
​
Comment threads are monitored for 48 hours after publication and then closed.
READER COMMENTS
Philip BroseJune 1, 2023 at 16:30Report
Robin great points the right can’t even keep track on who to be mad at. Why are they so sensitive? I here Chick-fil-a is evil now for they “ensuring equal access,” “valuing differences,” and “creating a culture of belonging,” under the title, “Committed to being Better at Together.” what monsters!
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Philip BroseJune 1, 2023 at 16:27Report
William Peter the guidance councilor?
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Joseph B De La CruzJune 1, 2023 at 15:15Report
This article pretty much sums up exactly how I feel about the situation. Bud Light basically sent someone a can with her image celebrating a milestone. The fact it turned the beer into enemy number one doesn’t surprise me considering the vitriol that has become commonplace in our country. I have had plenty of private messages regarding a video I posted supporting a beer, and more importantly a human being. Most have been vehemently against my support of both and relish the chance to send me a screen shot of Bud Lights stock on a daily basis with a “Go woke, Go broke” ending. I believe much of the vitriol comes from news and talk radio which is why Spotify now fills my vehicle with music instead of talk. I ask everyone to limit their news intake to 30 minutes per day regardless of your party affiliation to center your life. Sometimes my radio will land on a “news station”, and I can feel my blood pressure rise as the most divisive topic of the day is being discussed with a majority of the facts not being considered. I am not recommending folks to ignore what’s happening in our world, but would point out that our country has survived many decades without the need for “up to the second” news reports. Most of the things we worry about will never happen and it seems our country is living in a constant state of fear which is certainly to blame for the vitriol. There will never be a point where everyone in the country will collectively say we are all happy with everything, but I still have a deep believe that with constructive conversations and true empathy we can get us close. When I get my boat in the water I would love to have an ice cold Bud Light while listening to my relaxing boat playlist, and of course talking with my favorite sports writer. That’s an invitation Mike. Great article.
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Robin DaudaJune 1, 2023 at 13:41Report
“Bud Light sales are down between 26% and 35% nationwide additionally Budweiser and other AB brands (Michelob Ultra, Busch Light and Natural Light to name a few) have also taken a hit of around 11%.”
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All the more reason to explain what set this off. Completely unhinged.
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“My take, buy Coors stock now”
And that statement reinforces my point since Coors has been a decades long supporter of LGBT rights probably the biggest supporter (it all began with a workegay alliance boycott ironically… or not)
“Coors Light has been a sponsor of The Center and Denver PrideFest for decades,” says Rex Fuller, CEO of The Center on Colfax. “The work we have been able to do at The Center over the last four decades would not be possible without this support and we are grateful for it.”
Beyond supporting Denver PrideFest, Molson Coors has a distinguished history of supporting LGBTQ communities across the country, with significant support for organizations such as Human Rights Campaign (HRC), Matthew Shepard Foundation, National Amateur Gay Athletics Association of America, National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, LGBT Victory Institute, Out & Equal, and One Colorado.
In addition to these partners, Molson Coors works with local LGBTQ organizations in key communities through its Tap Into Change program. Annually, the summer program donates more than $100,000 to these organizations with a consistent growth in impact each year. Events take place in each city to help raise additional funds, awareness, and support for the missions of these local organizations. Over the past 10 years, Tap Into Change has raised nearly $600,000 for local LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS nonprofits.
https://denverpride.org/coors-light-supports-the-lgbtq-community/
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This is even though like 2006, 2010 and 2014 they had to go through boycotts for this. And they did shrink back in response, but also came right back and didn’t move backwards for long.
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And what will I do?
Continue drinking Corona because I drink what I drink.
It’s damn near impossible to do a successful boycott long term. The web of corporate connections means when you think you’re hurting one, it’s actually benefitting another one connected to it.
The beverage brand that owns Budweiser, Corona, and Stella Artois, is suing US beer-maker Constellation Brands for using the Corona brand name in a hard seltzer, according to a lawsuit filed Monday.
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Beverage giant Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) acquired Corona’s parent company, Grupo Modelo, in 2013, but US antitrust regulators required it to sell the company’s US-based business to Constellation. AB InBev retained rights to the products in other markets, and the deal gave Constellation the rights to produce Corona and other Modelo brands in the US.
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William PeterJune 1, 2023 at 13:36Report
The virtue signalers didn’t like my harmless comment. I guess being offended by an opposing view is reason enough to silence someone in 2023
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Richard GoldenJune 1, 2023 at 12:57Report
Robin- not certain this article nor all the comments will move the needle. Bud Light sales are down between 26% and 35% nationwide additionally Budweiser and other AB brands (Michelob Ultra, Busch Light and Natural Light to name a few) have also taken a hit of around 11%. Bud Light has been the best selling beer in the USA for over 20 years and the normal volume of sales is 27 million barrels a year or 1134 million gallons. A 30% drop equals a loss of 340 million gallons a year. My take, buy Coors stock now
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Chris JawakaJune 1, 2023 at 10:12Report
People are allowed to drink or not drink whatever beer they want and for whatever reason they choose. End of story.
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Robin DaudaJune 1, 2023 at 09:05Report
Do people realize that Bud Light sent a pack of specially made cans with the person’s face on it and did a minute long or so bit released on like TicTok? It wasn’t some big nationwide PR campaign yet it rubbed someone the wrong way (or so they would like us to think) and it snowballed into this.
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I don’t ever want to hear about people calling “the libs” snowflakes or use their center liberal stances as a weakness. These champions of “conservatives” are gullible whiny babies.
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I watched in real time a bunch of idiots blow something up out of nothing and then saw them flocking to the internet people with their influencer pages and podcasts and publications where immediately they were being hawked “anti-woke” beer and all these other wares, often made by the same places they are boycotting for double the price.
There is a whole market opening up to people that will only get their businesses off the ground (temporarily for a quick cash grab) by using these outrage tactics and capitalizing (literally) on impaired brains that as Mr. DiMauro correctly observed “Blind agreement. Their side or yours”
Bless your little void of empathy and common sense hearts. Don’t spend all your money in one place now, spread the wealth to these people selling you overpriced junk.
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Paul LevasseurJune 1, 2023 at 07:47Report
Mike is discussing one of this election cycles right wing culture war hot spots.
If you can’t get elected because of your governing skills you’re going to have to try to get elected by getting people angry and hateful. The right wing loves doing that. It’s their bread and butter.
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TOM DONNEEJune 1, 2023 at 06:46Report
Preaching hate and preaching tolerance ARE NOT the same Evan
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DANIEL STORMSJune 1, 2023 at 05:56Report
I always liked this formulation: “In the first place, what makes it any of you business? And in the second place, my reasons for saying yea to [whatever it is that offends you] are at least as valid (and maybe more so) than yours for nay. And in the third place, what makes it any of your sodding business in the first place?” I agree wholeheartedly with your plea for reason and tolerance. Not to seem argumentative but rather to add information to the discussion, though, you might be interested in this blog post from a biologist about the supposed physiologic advantages a trans man or woman has over a cis athelete: https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2023/05/31/we-hunted-the-rabbit/
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Evan AndriopolousJune 1, 2023 at 03:10Report
For me… Bud Light as a “beer” sucks. I would rather support local breweries that provide far better beers. As far as this column… as far as AB selecting this influencer in their campaign I have no opinion on it or that person. Up to each to decide for themselves.
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Regarding this column actually Mike what you are writing is basically the same as the boycott and the changes in attitudes (political divide) of the country. Often used by politicians on BOTH sides of the aisle screaming to be open, defending one´s right to choose, freedom of speech etc.. and this is the most important part..”unless it does not validate their opinion or view”. This is exactly what you are writing. So if someone elects to boycott something and we know the WOKE police and Leftists enjoy not only condemning opposing viewpoints to the point of boycotting, attacking employers for the “views” of their employees etc… and demanding they be removed from the position their are in. So if someone boycotts something let them… I would ask you… why does it offend you that others are using their constitutional right by boycotting (freedom of speech). I always respect other´s opinions and even when we do not agree. Sadly we live in a world where people are afraid to speak up due to the potential ramifications. None of us will always agree and I know the powers to be are trying to “force” us to all be uniform in our opinions which is sad. And btw Bud Light is terrible anyway… How about you focus on sports.
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Benoit BenoitMay 31, 2023 at 20:12Report
Ironic you drink because you like it but will continue to drink it because “ I will not marginalize people based on gender, race, religion, ethnicity, or sexual orientation.” Not just because you like it.
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William PeterMay 31, 2023 at 17:46Report
This comment has been removed for violating The Day’s commenting policy.
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JAY DEMPSEYMay 31, 2023 at 16:53Report
TY Mike….. I drink Bud Light most all the time unless in Ireland…and support Levine Distributors in our area and my friends that work there. I think the cancel culture is terrible whatever your political party of choice is. Very sad that social media has done this to us. I have good friends that I can no longer talk politics with because of the “great divide” that enriches social media giants.
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ROBERT WARNERMay 31, 2023 at 16:45Report
I suppose a similar question could be asked, “Why does a person wearing a MAGA hat bother some people?”
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David NowakowskiMay 31, 2023 at 14:30Report
great column, Mike. I’d like to think there are far more folks who see this subject and all its nuances the way you do…but you are probably right again in saying that it is tough to go against your chosen tribe on any component, regardless of how you might actually feel. thanks again!
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Andrew RogersonMay 31, 2023 at 13:33Report
Mike DiMauro – well said sir, on all counts.
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Lynn YoungMay 31, 2023 at 13:28Report
Drink what you like. Be who you are. Live and let live.
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Richard GoldenMay 31, 2023 at 12:36Report
Light Beer is like Sex on the Beach….****ing near water.
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Paul NUNESMay 31, 2023 at 11:44Report
Does anyone remember the first light beer and the commercial featuring a slice of bread?
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THOMAS MORIARTYMay 31, 2023 at 11:05Report
Richard, must have been some other brand light. Bud Light? It was probably 10 years ago. But he could have been messing with me.
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Richard GoldenMay 31, 2023 at 10:17Report
Malcolm- The moral of the story is; if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
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Richard GoldenMay 31, 2023 at 10:16Report
Thomas- as far as I knew and as far as I can tell Guinness is the most popular beer in Ireland holding a full 25% of the market share. Bud Light does not even show up in the top ten (https://www.beer100.com/best-selling-beers-ireland/) I think the guy was pulling your leg. Bud Light only became available in Ireland in 2020.
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Malcolm JulesMay 31, 2023 at 09:32Report
A corporation decided to target one of their products to a specific community and failed….end of story.
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Margaret KliseMay 31, 2023 at 09:12Report
Agree/agree. Good article, Mike.
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SUSAN HOTCHKISSMay 31, 2023 at 09:06Report
I always enjoy Mike’s opinion pieces. In total agreement about the transgender athlete issue.
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THOMAS MORIARTYMay 31, 2023 at 09:00Report
Tom, hope all is well with your daughter.
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THOMAS MORIARTYMay 31, 2023 at 08:57Report
A Bud Light story: Several years ago while in Ireland my son and I toured the Guinness brewery. Of course there’s a pub on the top floor and while getting a pint of Guinness the bar I notice several taps Bud Light. I asked the bartender “why in God’s name are you serving THAT stuff in here?” He replied that it’s the best selling beer in Ireland. Go figue!
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THOMAS MORIARTYMay 31, 2023 at 08:51Report
Good column Mike. These anti “woke” zealots claim to support democracy but would be no different from the Taliban if they had their way.
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Richard GoldenMay 31, 2023 at 08:42Report
All this talk of beer makes me thirsty…but I have found that drinking beer has become an unwelcome undertaking. No beer allowed at the beach, nor while night fishing in Waterford, nor surf fishing at Avery Point, nor at any state boat launch, nor is state parks- try walking down the street with a cold one….
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Chris JawakaMay 31, 2023 at 08:08Report
IMO The left loves their cancel culture but gets all grumpy when the right does the same. Hey it can go both ways. That said I really don’t care about the Bud thing. Its not like they sold beer with its face on it.
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Matther TookerMay 31, 2023 at 07:35Report
Thoughtful piece as always Mike. Perhaps the best offset for the 30% decrease in Bud Light sales would be a 30% increase in church attendance. I am betting that won’t happen. (Matt Tooker)
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KEITH J. ROBBINSMay 31, 2023 at 06:11Report
You drinking Bud-Lite does not offend me, although it is a horrible beer. What is my concern is a guy using the ladies room that my nieces use!
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TOM DONNEEMay 31, 2023 at 05:55Report
Agree Phil. Well done Mike!! Waiting for my daughter to come out of surgery. Then we’ll stop for a cold one, think I’ll make it a Bud Lite!!!
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Philip BroseMay 30, 2023 at 16:59Report
Mr. DiMauro is always thoughtful and intelligent. The best writer at the day. Give the guy a raise.

My week started with 3 other guys, 2 from Pennsylvania and my buddy from Michigan. The 2 guys from Pennsylvania had already been here for a week. They started us off with woodys bar and grill and old chicago. Both were great and i would love to go back to each place.
After a few days we went and tried BLVD bar and diner. I was tipped off about this place from a customer. It was great and we had an outstanding waitress. The very next day we tried Animales bbq. It was an ok food truck but most of the food was sold out by the time we got there.
In my last week i went to the mall of America which i thought was awesome. Spent four hours there when we got distracted by a tattoo place on the top floor. This made us decide to get tattoos but the tattoo place on the top floor closed early for memorial day. So we went to grand avenue tattoo which was the best decision ever.
My last few days i tried a couple of Mexican places (casa deli & taqueria la hacienda.) both were great! Lions tap was my final stop. A customer also told me about this one. Lions tap was only alright, i thought the burger was way too overseasoned and greasy. But the rootbeer and fries were great.
Thanks for your beauty Minneapolis!

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God Of War Ragnarok (ps4)	$54.99	$79.99	$25.00
God Of War Ragnarok (ps5)	$64.99	$89.99	$25.00
Gran Turismo 7 (ps5)	$49.99	$89.99	$40.00
Gran Turismo 7 (ps4)	$39.99	$79.99	$40.00
Gran Turismo Sport (ps4)	$9.99	$19.99	$10.00
Harvestella (switch)	$49.99	$79.99	$30.00
Horizon Forbidden West Launch Edition (ps5)	$49.99	$84.97	$34.98
Horizon Forbidden West Launch Edition (ps4)	$39.99	$79.99	$40.00
Horizon Forbidden West (ps5)	$49.99	$89.99	$40.00
Hyperx Cloud Alpha Over-ear Gaming Headset - Black	$109.99	$119.99	$10.00
Hyperx Cloud Flight Wireless Gaming Headset For Ps5/ps4 - Black	$129.99	$159.99	$30.00
Hyperx Cloud Stinger 2 Core Gaming Headset For Ps5/ps4 - Black	$44.99	$49.99	$5.00
Hyperx Cloudx Stinger 2 Core Gaming Headset For Xbox Series X/S / Xbox One - White	$44.99	$49.99	$5.00
Insignia Carrying/protective Case For Meta - Only At Best Buy	$29.99	$39.99	$10.00
Insignia Cleaning Kit For Meta	$19.99	$29.99	$10.00
Insignia 5m (16.4 Ft.) Usb Type-c Cable For Meta Quest Vr Headsets - Only At Best Buy	$59.99	$79.99	$20.00
Kontrolfreek Fps Freek Galaxy 4-prong Thumbsticks For Ps4 & Ps5	$19.99	$24.99	$5.00
Kontrolfreek Fps Freek Galaxy 4-prong Thumbsticks For Xbox One & Xbox Series X/S	$19.99	$24.99	$5.00
Kontrolfreek Fps Freek Inferno 4-prong Thumbsticks For Ps4 & Ps5	$19.99	$24.99	$5.00
Kontrolfreek Fps Freek Inferno 4-prong Thumbsticks For Xbox One & Xbox Series X/S	$19.99	$24.99	$5.00
Littlebigplanet 3 (ps4)	$9.99	$19.99	$10.00
Logitech Extreme 3d Pro Joystick (963290-0403)	$48.98	$49.99	$1.01
Logitech Gamepad F310 Controller	$19.98	$29.99	$10.01
Logitech G923 True Force Racing Wheel For Playstation 5/pc - Black	$479.99	$499.99	$20.00
Logitech G923 True Force Racing Wheel For Xbox Series X/S And Xbox One - Black	$479.99	$499.99	$20.00
Logitech Wireless Gamepad (f710)	$39.98	$49.99	$10.01
Mlb The Show 22 (ps4)	$14.99	$29.95	$14.96
Mlb The Show 23 (ps5)	$64.99	$89.99	$25.00
Mlb The Show 22 (ps5)	$14.99	$39.99	$25.00
Mlb The Show 23 (ps4)	$49.99	$79.99	$30.00
Mlb The Show 23 (switch)	$54.99	$79.99	$25.00
Mlb The Show 23 (xbox One)	$54.99	$79.99	$25.00
Nba 2k23 (ps5)	$19.99	$29.99	$10.00
Nba 2k23 (ps4)	$19.99	$29.99	$10.00
Nba 2k23 (switch)	$19.99	$29.99	$10.00
Nba 2k23 (xbox One)	$19.99	$29.99	$10.00
Nba 2k23 (xbox Series X)	$19.99	$29.99	$10.00
Nfs Unbound (ps5)	$49.99	$64.99	$15.00
Nfs Unbound (xbox Series X)	$49.99	$64.99	$15.00
Nier:automata (switch)	$39.99	$54.99	$15.00
Noon Vr Pro Headset	$39.99	$49.99	$10.00
Powera Dualsense Controller Charger For Ps5	$27.99	$34.99	$7.00
Ratchet & Clank (ps4)	$9.99	$19.99	$10.00
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (ps5)	$39.99	$89.99	$50.00
Razer Kaira X Gaming Headset For Ps5 - White	$53.99	$79.99	$26.00
Razer Kaira X Gaming Headset For Xbox Series X/S - Black	$53.99	$74.99	$21.00
Razer Kaira X Gaming Headset For Xbox Series X/S - Blue	$53.99	$74.99	$21.00
Razer Kaira X Gaming Headset For Xbox Series X/S - Lime	$53.99	$74.99	$21.00
Razer Kaira X Gaming Headset For Xbox Series X/S - Red	$53.99	$74.99	$21.00
Razer Kaira X Gaming Headset For Xbox Series X/S - White	$53.99	$79.99	$26.00
Sackboy: A Big Adventure (ps5)	$29.99	$79.99	$50.00
Seagate 512gb Storage Expansion Card For Xbox Series X And Series S	$124.99	$149.99	$25.00
Seagate 2tb Storage Expansion Card For Xbox Series X And Series S	$389.99	$489.99	$100.00
Seagate 1tb Storage Expansion Card For Xbox Series X And Series S	$204.99	$274.99	$70.00
Spider-man: Miles Morales (ps4)	$29.99	$64.99	$35.00
Spider-man: Miles Morales (ps5)	$29.99	$64.99	$35.00
Spider-man: Miles Morales Ultimate Edition (ps5)	$49.99	$89.99	$40.00
Star Ocean: The Divine Force (ps5)	$34.99	$49.95	$14.96
Steelseries Arctis Nova Pro X Wireless Gaming Headset For Xbox - Black	$432.98	$449.99	$17.01
Surge Starter Kit 2.0 For Switch/switch Lite/switch (oled Model)	$19.99	$24.99	$5.00
Surge Switchpad Pro Wireless Controller For Switch & Switch (oled Model) - Blue	$34.99	$39.99	$5.00
Surge Switchpad Pro Wireless Controller For Switch & Switch (oled Model) - Red	$34.99	$39.99	$5.00
Surge System Travel Case For Switch/switch Lite/switch (oled Model)	$17.99	$19.99	$2.00
Surge Tempered Glass Screen Protector For Switch Lite - 2 Pack	$4.99	$7.99	$3.00
Surge Temperedshield Screen Protector For Switch (oled Model) - 2 Pack	$7.99	$9.99	$2.00
Tactics Ogre: Reborn (ps5)	$39.99	$64.99	$25.00
The Diofield Chronicle (ps4)	$34.99	$49.95	$14.96
The Diofield Chronicle (xbox Series X / Xbox One)	$34.99	$37.98	$2.99
The Last Of Us: Part I (ps5)	$64.99	$89.99	$25.00
The Last Of Us Remastered (ps4)	$9.99	$19.99	$10.00
The Quarry (ps5)	$29.99	$39.95	$9.96
The Quarry (ps4)	$19.99	$29.99	$10.00
The Quarry (xbox Series X)	$29.99	$39.99	$10.00
Thrustmaster Ferrari F1 Racing Wheel	$239.99	$249.99	$10.00
Thrustmaster Formula Racing Wheel Add-on - Ferrari Sf1000 Edition	$449.99	$499.99	$50.00
Thrustmaster Open Wheel Add-on	$239.99	$279.99	$40.00
Thrustmaster T248p Racing Wheel & Magnetic Pedal Set For Xbox/pc	$439.99	$549.99	$110.00
Thrustmaster T248 Racing Wheel & Magnetic Pedals For Ps5/ps4/pc	$439.99	$549.99	$110.00
Thrustmaster T128 Racing Wheel & Magnetic Pedals For Ps5/ps4/pc	$239.99	$279.99	$40.00
Thrustmaster T128 Racing Wheel & Magnetic Pedals For Xbox Series X/S & Xbox One/pc	$239.99	$279.99	$40.00
Thrustmaster T300rs Gt Racing Wheel For Ps5/ps4/pc	$529.99	$649.99	$120.00
Turtle Beach Battle Buds Gaming Headset For Switch - Black	$39.98	$44.99	$5.01
Turtle Beach Ear Force Recon 70 Gaming Headset With Microphone For Playstation 4 - Black	$39.98	$49.99	$10.01
Turtle Beach Ear Force Recon 70 Over-ear Gaming Headset - Blue Camo	$39.98	$49.99	$10.01
Turtle Beach Ear Force Recon 70 Over-ear Gaming Headset - Green Camo	$39.98	$49.99	$10.01
Turtle Beach Ear Force Recon 70 Over-ear Gaming Headset - Silver	$39.98	$49.99	$10.01
Turtle Beach Ear Force Recon 50p Playstation 4 Headset - Black	$34.98	$39.99	$5.01
Turtle Beach Gaming Headset With Microphone For Switch - Black/red	$39.98	$49.99	$10.01
Turtle Beach Recon 500 Gaming Headset - Arctic Camo	$59.99	$69.98	$9.99
Turtle Beach Recon 500 Gaming Headset - Black	$59.99	$69.99	$10.00
Turtle Beach Recon 70 Gaming Headset With Microphone For Xbox One - Black/green	$39.98	$49.99	$10.01
Turtle Beach Recon 70 Over-ear Gaming Headset - White	$39.98	$49.99	$10.01
Turtle Beach Recon Spark Gaming Headset With Microphone - White/lavender	$49.99	$69.99	$20.00
Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 2 Max Multiplatform Wireless Gaming Headset - Arctic Camo	$139.99	$169.99	$30.00
Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 2 Max Multiplatform Wireless Gaming Headset - Midnight Red	$139.99	$169.99	$30.00
Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 2 Max Wireless Gaming Headset - Black	$139.99	$169.99	$30.00
Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 2 Max Wireless Gaming Headset For Ps5/ps4 - Arctic Camo	$139.99	$169.99	$30.00
Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 2 Max Wireless Gaming Headset For Ps5/ps4 - Black	$129.98	$139.99	$10.01
Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 2 Max Wireless Gaming Headset For Ps5/ps4 - Midnight Red	$139.99	$169.99	$30.00
Uncharted: Legacy Of Thieves Collection (ps5)	$29.99	$64.99	$35.00
Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection (ps4)	$9.99	$19.99	$10.00
Until Dawn (ps4)	$9.99	$19.99	$10.00
Wd_black D30 Game Drive 2tb Usb-c External Solid State Drive For Ps4 (wdbatl0020bbk-wesn)	$254.99	$294.99	$40.00
Wd_black D30 Game Drive 1tb Usb-c External Solid State Drive For Ps4 (wdbatl0010bbk-wesn)	$159.99	$164.99	$5.00
Wd_black D30 Game Drive 1tb Usb-c External Solid State Drive For Xbox (wdbamf0010bbw-wesn)	$179.99	$189.99	$10.00
Wd_black D30 Game Drive 2tb Usb-c External Solid State Drive For Xbox (wdbamf0020bbw-wesn)	$314.99	$354.99	$40.00
Wd_black P10 5tb External Game Drive For Xbox (wdba5g0050bbk-wesn) - Black	$159.98	$169.99	$10.01
Xbox Stereo Headset For Xbox Series X/S / Xbox One / Windows 10	$67.98	$74.99	$7.01
Xbox Wireless Controller (2020) With Usb-c Cable - Carbon Black	$73.98	$74.99	$1.01
Xbox Wireless Headset For Xbox Series X/S / Xbox One / Windows 10	$109.98	$129.99	$20.01

Top Deals

Item	Sale Price	MSRP	Savings
Arlo Essential Spotlight Wire-free Indoooutdoor 1080p Security Camera - White - 4 Pack - Only At Best Buy	$339.99	$399.99	$60.00
Asus 24" Fhd 165hz 0.5ms Gtg Tn Led G-sync Gaming Monitor (vg248qg) - Black	$219.99	$249.99	$30.00
Asus Rog Strix G15 Gaming Pc - Star Black (intel Core I7-12700f /512gb Ssd/16gb Ram/rtx 3070) - Only At Best Buy	$1,699.99	$1,999.99	$300.00
Asus Zenwifi Pro Et12 Axe11000 Whole Home Mesh Wi-fi 6e System (90ig05z0-mx1a20) - 2 Pack	$899.99	$1,099.99	$200.00
Corsair K70 Rgb Mk2 Backlit Mechanical Cherry Mx Speed Gaming Keyboard - English	$199.99	$239.99	$40.00
Dji Mini 3 Quadcopter Drone Fly More Combo & Remote Control With Built-in Screen (dji Rc) - Grey	$989.99	$1,108.99	$119.00
Hisense 3-in-1 Portable Air Conditioner With Wi-fi - 11500 Btu (sacc 8000 Btu) - White	$449.99	$599.99	$150.00
Hp 15" Laptop - Jet Black (intel I5 1135g7/512gb Ssd/16gb Ram/windows 11 Home)	$699.99	$829.99	$130.00
Hp Pavilion X360 14" Touchscreen 2-in-1 Laptop - Silver (intel Core I5 1335u/512gb Ssd/8gb Ram/win 11)	$849.99	$999.99	$150.00
Irobot Roomba J7+ Wi-fi Connected Self-empty Robot Vacuum (j7550)	$799.99	$999.99	$200.00
Jbl Flip 6 Waterproof Bluetooth Wireless Speaker - Black	$149.99	$169.99	$20.00
Jbl Flip 6 Waterproof Bluetooth Wireless Speaker - Blue	$149.99	$169.99	$20.00
Jbl Flip 6 Waterproof Bluetooth Wireless Speaker - Grey	$149.99	$169.99	$20.00
Jbl Flip 6 Waterproof Bluetooth Wireless Speaker - Pink	$149.99	$169.99	$20.00
Jbl Flip 6 Waterproof Bluetooth Wireless Speaker - Red	$149.99	$169.99	$20.00
Jbl Flip 6 Waterproof Bluetooth Wireless Speaker - Squad	$149.99	$169.99	$20.00
Jbl Flip 6 Waterproof Bluetooth Wireless Speaker - Teal	$149.99	$169.99	$20.00
Jbl Flip 6 Waterproof Bluetooth Wireless Speaker - White	$149.99	$169.99	$20.00
Logitech G923 True Force Racing Wheel For Playstation 5/pc - Black	$479.99	$499.99	$20.00
Meta Quest 2 128gb Vr Headset With Touch Controllers	$419.99	$529.99	$110.00
Meta Quest 2 256gb Vr Headset With Touch Controllers	$489.99	$589.99	$100.00
Nautilus T618 Folding Treadmill	$1,199.99	$1,999.99	$800.00
Ooni Koda 16" Pizza Oven - Stainless Steel	$599.99	$799.99	$200.00
Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro In-ear Noise Cancelling Truly Wireless Headphones - Graphite	$229.99	$289.99	$60.00
Samsung Galaxy Smarttag Bluetooth Item Tracker - Black	$27.99	$39.99	$12.00
Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra 14.6" 256gb Android 11 Tablet W/ Qualcomm Sm8450 8-core Processor - Graphite	$1,299.99	$1,499.99	$200.00
Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro (gps) 45mm Smartwatch With Heart Rate Monitor - Black	$499.99	$509.99	$10.00
Samsung 55" 4k Uhd Hdr Led Tizen Smart Tv (un55cu7000fxzc) - 2023 - Titan Grey	$699.99	$749.99	$50.00
Samsung 65" 4k Uhd Hdr Qled Smart Tv (qn65q60cafxzc) - 2023 - Titan Grey	$1,199.99	$1,299.99	$100.00
Seagate One Touch 4tb Usb 3.0 Portable External Hard Drive (stkc4000404) - Grey - Only At Best Buy	$119.99	$139.99	$20.00
Sonos Arc Sound Bar - Black	$879.99	$949.99	$70.00
Sony Cyber-shot Zv-1 Content Creator Vlogger 20.1mp 2.9x Optical Zoom Digital Camera - Black	$949.99	$999.99	$50.00
Sony Wh-ch520 On-ear Bluetooth Headphones W/ Microphone - Black	$69.99	$99.99	$30.00
Sony Wh-ch520 On-ear Bluetooth Headphones W/ Microphone - Blue	$69.99	$99.99	$30.00
Sony Wh-ch520 On-ear Bluetooth Headphones W/ Microphone - White	$69.99	$99.99	$30.00

Samsung Shopping Event

Item	Sale Price	MSRP	Savings
Samsung 30" French Door Refrigerator; Electric Air Fry Range; Dishwasher; Cookware Set - Stainless	2999.99	3749.96	749.97
Samsung Galaxy Smarttag Bluetooth Item Tracker - Black	27.99	39.99	12.00
Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra 14.6" 256gb Android 11 Tablet W/ Qualcomm Sm8450 8-core Processor - Graphite	1299.99	1499.99	200.00
Samsung Hw-q750b/zc 5.1.2 Channel Wireless Dolby Atmos Sound Bar W/ Wireless Subwoofer & Speakers	599.95	1099.95	500.00
Samsung 55" 4k Uhd Hdr Led Tizen Smart Tv (un55cu7000fxzc) - 2023 - Titan Grey	699.99	749.99	50.00
Samsung 65" 4k Uhd Hdr Qled Smart Tv (qn65q60cafxzc) - 2023 - Titan Grey	1199.99	1299.99	100.00
Samsung T7 Shield 1tb Usb 3.2 External Solid State Drive (mu-pe1t0s/am) - Black	119.99	149.99	30.00

Outlet Center

Item	Sale Price	MSRP	Savings
Apple Macbook Air 13.3" W/ Touch Id (fall 2020) - Silver (apple M1 Chip / 256gb Ssd / 8gb Ram) - En - Open Box	968.95	1199.95	231.00
Open Box - Apple Ipad Air 10.9" 64gb With Wi-fi (5th Generation) - Starlight	729.99	759.99	30.00
Open Box - Apple Iphone 14 Pro Max 128gb - Deep Purple - Unlocked	1249.99	1549.99	300.00
Open Box - Google Pixel 7 Pro 128gb - Obsidian - Unlocked	939.99	999.99	60.00
Open Box - Nikon D7500 Dslr Camera With 18-140mm Ed Vr Lens Kit	1449.99	1499.99	50.00
Open Box - Samsung Galaxy S22 5g 128gb - Phantom Black - Unlocked	869.99	989.99	120.00
Open Box - Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 10.5" 32gb Android Tablet With Unisoc 618 8-core Processor - Silver	259.99	299.99	40.00
Open Box - Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 Fe 12.4" 64gb Android 11 Tablet With Qualcomm Sm7225 8-core Processor - Black	639.99	749.99	110.00
Open Box - Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5g 256gb - Phantom Black - Unlocked	2099.99	2404.99	305.00
Open Box - Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 5g 512gb - Phantom Black - Unlocked	1969.99	2049.99	80.00
Open Box - Samsung 65" 4k Uhd Hdr Led Tizen Smart Tv (un65au8000fxzc) - 2021	849.99	899.99	50.00
Open Box - Sony Cyber-shot Zv-1 Content Creator Vlogger 20.1mp 2.9x Optical Zoom Digital Camera -white	899.99	999.99	100.00
Refurbished (good) - Apple Airpods Pro (2nd Generation) In-ear Noise Cancelling Truly Wireless Headphones - White	199.99	329.99	130.00
Samsung 65" 4k Uhd Hdr Qled Tizen Smart Tv (qn65q60bafxzc) - Titan Grey - Open Box	1019.99	1089.99	70.00
Samsung 65" 4k Uhd Oled Tizen Smart Tv (qn65s95bafxzc) - Open Box	2209.99	2419.99	210.00

Smart Home Sale

Item	Sale Price	MSRP	Savings
Amazon Echo Dot (5th Gen) Smart Speaker With Alexa - Charcoal	39.99	69.99	30.00
Amazon Echo Show 5 (2nd Gen) Smart Display With Alexa - Charcoal	69.99	99.99	30.00
Arlo Essential Spotlight Wire-free Indoooutdoor 1080p Security Camera - White - 4 Pack - Only At Best Buy	339.99	399.99	60.00
Click & Grow Smart Garden 9 (sg9s1us) - White	219.99	259.99	40.00
Eufy Eufycam 2 Pro Wireless Security System With 2 Bullet 2k Cameras - White	349.99	479.99	130.00
Eufy Touch & Wi-fi Smart Lock - Black	299.99	349.99	50.00
Ge Cync A19 Smart Led Light Bulb - Multi-colour	12.99	17.99	5.00
Google Nest Cam Wired Indoor Security Camera - Snow	99.99	128.99	29.00
Google Nest Cam Wire-free Indoooutdoor Security Camera - White	189.99	228.99	39.00
Google Nest Hub Max Smart Display With Google Assistant - Charcoal	238.99	299.99	61.00
Google Nest Hub (2nd Gen) Smart Display With Google Assistant - Chalk	79.99	129.99	50.00
Google Nest Wi-fi Smart Learning Thermostat (3rd Generation) - Stainless Steel	268.99	328.99	60.00
Nanoleaf Shapes Mini Triangle Panels - Smarter Kit - 5 Panels	59.97	149.97	90.00
Ring Wi-fi Video Doorbell Pro 2 - Satin Nickel	234.99	328.99	94.00
Sobro Smart Coffee Table With Refrigerated Drawer - White	1299.99	1999.99	700.00

I know it's a long shot, but are there any bars where Nugget fans meet up in Portland, OR?
Edit: Broadway Grill & Brewery it is! Thanks!

You can download the WesternUnion app and send the payment from your phone and I will pay the fees.

Desktop Users: Comment on this post and Click here to start a trade App Users, please include the following in your PM (Remember to comment on this post as well):

• Type of card(s) and amount of each.
• What payment method you accept.
• How you acquired the GC and why you're getting rid of it.

BTC, Paypal^1, Apple Pay, Chime, Cashapp, Venmo, and Western Union
I only have Steam as a substitute for cash payments in gift card trades.

Want ↓	Cash or a Gift Card ↓	BTC ↓
Apple	60%4	NA
Amazon.ca	50%	50%
Amazon.co.uk	50%	50%
Amazon.com	70%	55%
Amazon.de	50%	50%
Amazon.es	50%	50%
Amazon.fr	50%	50%
Amazon.it	50%	50%
Amazon.jp	30%	30%
Arrow Films	65%	60%
Barnes & Noble	50%	50%
Baskin Robbins	60%	60%
Best Buy	60%	60%
BJ's (not BJ's restaurant)4	60%	NA
Bloomingdales	50%	50%
Burger King4	60%	NA
Clothing Shops (Small Boutique)	contact me	contact me
Dell4	60%	NA
Delta gift cards4	65%	NA
Delta Sky Miles4	PM me	NA
Delta Vouchers4	65%	NA
Dicks Sporting Goods 4	PM me	NA
Disney Plus	PM me	PM me
DoorDash	70%6	NA
Dunkin Donuts4	60%	NA
eBay	70%	70%
Fandango4	10%	NA
Five Guys4	60%	NA
Gamestop	60%	60%
Gas Station Cards4	PM me	NA
Grub Hub	70%6	NA
Gyft	70%	70%
Half Price Books	50%	50%
HBO4	70%	NA
iTunes4	60%	NA
J crew	40%	40%
JCPenney	25%	25%
Jersey Mike Subs4	60%	NA
KFC4	60%	NA
Khols	30%	30%
Macys	35%	35%
Magazines.com	40%	40%
McDonald's 4	60%	NA
Microsoft6	60%	NA
Moe’s Southwestern Grill4	60%	NA
Nintendo Eshop6	70%	NA
Nordstrom	50%	50%
Panera bread4	60%	NA
PSN6	60	NA
PSN Plus 12 month4	NA	NA
Saks Fifth Avenue	50%	50%
Sears	50%	50%
Sephora	50%	50%
Speedway4	80%	NA
Starbucks	55%	55%
Steam6	60%	NA
Subway 4	PM me	NA
Taco Bell	60%	NA
Target	50%	50%
Uber6	70%	NA
Urban Outfitters	50%	50%
Vudu4	50%	NA
Walmart	60%	60%
Wendys4	60%	NA
Xbox (gift cards)6	60%	NA
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate (12 month/6 month/3 month/1 month)6	PM me	NA
Other Clothing Stores, Gas Stations, Grocery Stores, Restaurant, & Fast Food gift cards	PM me

¹ When paying via PayPal, I can only send payments via Goods and Services, thus you will be charged a fee. If you'd rather not face this fee there are plenty of alternatives. ² Larger denominated gift cards preferred. ³ PayPal is the only payment option. ⁴ I can't send less than $10 in crypto per Coinbase's rules.

What I don’t buy:

• Amazon.au
• Bass Pro Shop
• buffalo wild wing
• Canadian tire
• Cold Stone
• Dairy Queen
• Fanatics
• Google Play
• Hilton Honors
• Hot Topic
• iTunes from anywhere but the US
• Krispy Kreme
• old navy/gap/banana republic
• Patxi's pizza
• PSN Canada or UK
• publix
• Raceway
• Scheels
• Shell Gas Stations
• Spotify
• Tractor supply
• Xbox Canada or UK
• Xbox live gold

Any fees are built into the price.

Selling

I have:
$500 in Amazon (can be broken up) and am selling at

• 85%: WesternUnion
• 85%: btc
• 90%: Apple Pay or Chime

Here are my GCX Rep profiles with 932 trades worth more than $60,000:

• #1
• #2
• #3
• #4
• #5
• #6
• #7
• #8
• #9
• #10

Important: before you send your codes please make sure your account is secure (if your password is twelve characters or less it's best to assume your account has already been compromised; your password should be eight randomly selected words, see 1 and 2). Scams where compromised accounts are used to leverage reputation to scam an unsuspecting user, used to steal codes during the middle of the trade, and steal unused gift cards the victim was saving for later are increasingly commonplace. If you have any concerns as to your account's security, please reset your password now and force logout of all sessions. Thanks

You can download the WesternUnion app and send the payment from your phone and I will pay the fees.

Desktop Users: Comment on this post and Click here to start a trade App Users, please include the following in your PM (Remember to comment on this post as well):

• Type of card(s) and amount of each.
• What payment method you accept.
• How you acquired the GC and why you're getting rid of it.

BTC, Paypal^1, Apple Pay, Chime, Cashapp, Venmo, and Western Union
I only have Steam as a substitute for cash payments in gift card trades.

Want ↓	Cash or a Gift Card ↓	BTC ↓
Apple	60%4	NA
Amazon.ca	50%	50%
Amazon.co.uk	50%	50%
Amazon.com	70%	55%
Amazon.de	50%	50%
Amazon.es	50%	50%
Amazon.fr	50%	50%
Amazon.it	50%	50%
Amazon.jp	30%	30%
Arrow Films	65%	60%
Barnes & Noble	50%	50%
Baskin Robbins	60%	60%
Best Buy	60%	60%
BJ's (not BJ's restaurant)4	60%	NA
Bloomingdales	50%	50%
Burger King4	60%	NA
Clothing Shops (Small Boutique)	contact me	contact me
Dell4	60%	NA
Delta gift cards4	65%	NA
Delta Sky Miles4	PM me	NA
Delta Vouchers4	65%	NA
Dicks Sporting Goods 4	PM me	NA
Disney Plus	PM me	PM me
DoorDash	70%6	NA
Dunkin Donuts4	60%	NA
eBay	70%	70%
Fandango4	10%	NA
Five Guys4	60%	NA
Gamestop	60%	60%
Gas Station Cards4	PM me	NA
Grub Hub	70%6	NA
Gyft	70%	70%
Half Price Books	50%	50%
HBO4	70%	NA
iTunes4	60%	NA
J crew	40%	40%
JCPenney	25%	25%
Jersey Mike Subs4	60%	NA
KFC4	60%	NA
Khols	30%	30%
Macys	35%	35%
Magazines.com	40%	40%
McDonald's 4	60%	NA
Microsoft6	60%	NA
Moe’s Southwestern Grill4	60%	NA
Nintendo Eshop6	70%	NA
Nordstrom	50%	50%
Panera bread4	60%	NA
PSN6	60	NA
PSN Plus 12 month4	NA	NA
Saks Fifth Avenue	50%	50%
Sears	50%	50%
Sephora	50%	50%
Speedway4	80%	NA
Starbucks	55%	55%
Steam6	60%	NA
Subway 4	PM me	NA
Taco Bell	60%	NA
Target	50%	50%
Uber6	70%	NA
Urban Outfitters	50%	50%
Vudu4	50%	NA
Walmart	60%	60%
Wendys4	60%	NA
Xbox (gift cards)6	60%	NA
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate (12 month/6 month/3 month/1 month)6	PM me	NA
Other Clothing Stores, Gas Stations, Grocery Stores, Restaurant, & Fast Food gift cards	PM me

¹ When paying via PayPal, I can only send payments via Goods and Services, thus you will be charged a fee. If you'd rather not face this fee there are plenty of alternatives. ² Larger denominated gift cards preferred. ³ PayPal is the only payment option. ⁴ I can't send less than $10 in crypto per Coinbase's rules.

What I don’t buy:

• Amazon.au
• Bass Pro Shop
• buffalo wild wing
• Canadian tire
• Cold Stone
• Dairy Queen
• Fanatics
• Google Play
• Hilton Honors
• Hot Topic
• iTunes from anywhere but the US
• Krispy Kreme
• old navy/gap/banana republic
• Patxi's pizza
• PSN Canada or UK
• publix
• Raceway
• Scheels
• Shell Gas Stations
• Spotify
• Tractor supply
• Xbox Canada or UK
• Xbox live gold

Any fees are built into the price.

Selling

I have:
$500 in Amazon (can be broken up) and am selling at

• 85%: WesternUnion
• 85%: btc
• 90%: Apple Pay or Chime

Here are my GCX Rep profiles with 932 trades worth more than $60,000:

• #1
• #2
• #3
• #4
• #5
• #6
• #7
• #8
• #9
• #10

Important: before you send your codes please make sure your account is secure (if your password is twelve characters or less it's best to assume your account has already been compromised; your password should be eight randomly selected words, see 1 and 2). Scams where compromised accounts are used to leverage reputation to scam an unsuspecting user, used to steal codes during the middle of the trade, and steal unused gift cards the victim was saving for later are increasingly commonplace. If you have any concerns as to your account's security, please reset your password now and force logout of all sessions. Thanks

I was going to post this in /visitingnashville, as that's what I'm doing, but figure this may have a stronger response...
I went to their website https://www.post82.org/ and noticed the upside down flag and then saw the message regarding venue change (below) and seems like bad news. Was hoping to hit them for the Wednesday night bluegrass jam in a few weeks, but even if that's going on, seems like supporting the new situation may not be in good taste?
"Post 82 WAS an American Legion Bar & Event Space.
It has since been leased by The Smoking Gun grill for a period of 6 years (3 initial w/ unilateral option for business to renew)
this lease was signed by commander mickey justice through a no-bid process that went to his personal friend and someone he affectionately refers to as a, "brother mason."
no attempt to notify post 82 membership was made. No competing bids and no negotiation was allowed.
This no-bid lease gives the lessee 75% of every dollar. not just the bar, but the entire hall has been surrendered. any business conducted on that property belongs to the lease holder. shockingly, commander justice now enjoys his drinks for free on a tab created by the business called,
"the commanders tab."
~no such tab ever existed before~
a 6-10k(approx) per year Bribe. "

I have some thoughts on Utah. I've been here for three years after covid decimated the city where I lived.
Alta & Snowbird are world-class resorts. Deer Valley is renowned for its service & groomers. Snowbasin and Park City are in the top 20 in the United States. Then there's Powder Mtn, Brighton, Solitude, and Sundance, which are all pretty good! If you want close proximity to some of the best skiing in the United States (and maybe the world) come to Utah.
Utah is the best state in the country for outdoor activities. Second and third are Colorado and California, respectively, but no other state offers world-class skiing & snowboarding near an urban environment. Denver is second but still very far from good ski resorts. San Francisco is third, but there are problems crossing Donner Pass during the Winter.
There's also some of the best outdoor rock climbing in the United States (probably second to Yosemite). However, at least seven rock climbing gyms are in the SLC metro area, half of which Olympians frequent. Moab is pretty close, which from what I've heard, is one of the best spots in the world for air sports like Skydiving, and BASE Jumping, alongside ATVS & side-by-sides.
Utah also might have the best mountain biking in the country, from the trails in Park City to where Red Bull Hosts Rampage near Zion National Park. Road Cycling is also very good, with multiple HC, Cat 1, and Cat 2 climbs to keep even seasoned professionals in the Tour De France occupied. I can go on. There's hiking. There's paragliding. Out on the salt flats cars go 300+ MPH. If you want to do an outdoor activity here in Utah, chances are there's a community of people whose lives revolve around the sport.
I'm sure everyone saw this coming, but here's where things get a little dark.
Utah is one of the weirdest states I have ever been in. It's a quasi-church state, where the LDS church has enough influence over gentiles' lives, and you genuinely wonder if there is a separation of church and state. You can only buy alcohol over 5.0 ABV in state-owned liquor stores. They aren't open on Sundays. You can only ship in alcohol from some states or countries. Instead, you have to go to neighboring states. So, if you want a bottle from that winery you visited in South America, you must go to Wyoming to pick it up.
Cocktails here are atrocious. They use a machine that pours accurate 1.5oz shots; only one can be served in a cocktail. I'm not a mixologist, but I'm sure some drinks call for more than one shot to keep the intended ratio. There is only one bar for every 10,200 residents, and they aren't adding new ones for the 10k net new residents Utah receives a year.
I waited two hours to get into a bar on St. Patrick's day. It was half empty on the inside due to the strict enforcement of the venue's capacity.
I couldn't take my 20-year-old brother to a gastropub. We couldn't even get inside. You can't take your drink from a bar to your table. ?????? Seriously?
Aside from the draconian liquor laws, the culture here is just different. If you're into outdoor activities and you've found your niche, great! But there isn't a bumbling nightlife scene downtown. There are select dive bars where many people on a weekend night (one in BCC I refuse to remain, but those who know, know). There's a good stand-up comedy venue downtown. There are also a dozen or so "excellent" restaurants in the state. Lots of fast food and drive-throughs though.
People here are nice. Everyone I've met here has been kind, patient, and respectful. Every LDS person I've met here has been very nice, and only a few have proselytized.
​
I have mixed feelings on Utah. On the one hand, it's the best place in the country and one of the best in the world for outdoor sports. I've done so many activities here I never thought I would get the chance to do. That said, while I love the outdoors and the culture, it isn't my whole life. I'm not dedicated enough to live in a camper van or camp in the wilderness alone for a weekend. Utah has so much potential, but the older people here don't want it to change from Zion to a 21st-century cosmpolitain city with excellent access to the outdoors.

​
Leyca's House - Vacational Challet

Acerca de este espacio

Una casa cómoda con detalles caribeños rústicos, una hermosa vista al mar y en la calle más segura y céntrica para tours y vida nocturna.

El espacio

Una casa acogedora, privada y sobre todo muy segura ya que contamos con la cercanía de la Estación Policial y la Estación de Bomberos, adicional estamos alado del icónico Bar & Grill Barco Hundido.

Acceso de los huéspedes

Pueden tener acceso rápido a restaurantes, agencias de turismo, discotecas y lugares públicos, además contamos con estacionamiento público y abierto a orilla de la calle frente a la residencia.

Otros aspectos a destacar

Contamos con sistema CCTV en los exteriores de la casa para brindarle seguridad y tranquilidad, además de tener enlaces con empresas de Tours y Transporte para movilidad.

Hi experts,
Been in this sub for less than 2 yrs and it really helped me improves my coffee experience.
After 3 yrs, my BBE has started crapping out on me with multiple gasket breaks in a month. I am not handy with DIY so i really don’t want to mess with my beloved machine (lots of great memories on this).
Recently nearby coffee machine shop offered package deals, Elizabeth + DF64 for USD 1460 vs Ascaso Duo + DF64 clone for USD 1290. My questions;

1. Are there significant differences between these machines?
2. Both are dual boiler type but Elizabeth seems to be more expensive, any particular reason why?
3. Duo with thermoblock seems to sport newer tech compared to Elizabeth, is this true?
4. Reliability - went to Ascaso sub and came across a bunch of posts on factory defects, have not read much on Elizabeth. Those who have either or both machines, what’s your take?
5. Steam wand - Elizabeth’s steam wand rated at 2 bar & Duo at 1 bar, is there significant difference between the 2, especially if i were to do back to back lattes?
6. Aesthetic - i love Duo’s design but Elizabeth seems to be easier to clean

Help!

Happy Pride Everyone! I thought I'd drop a list of my favorite queer romances.
Please feel free to drop and gush about your favorite queer reccs in the comments below!
(p.s. sorry for the lack of details on some reccs, I haven't re-read them since I started my master list with the notes)
(p.p.s I did my best with formatting on mobile)
 
~Kit Rocha~
Bi Author Duo
 
{Beyond series by Kit Rocha} - Bi/Poly (kink) relationships, Post-apocalyptic Dystopian, 1st Rotating POV.
Book 1 is permafree on Amazon and you can buy the omnibus versions cheaper than individually ;)
Notes: Bi MCs, FF, MM, MMFF+ ect., Casual Queerness, Casual Polyam
Disclaimer: Non-traditional HEA and relationships, many of the pairings in the series are monogamish
 
~Aveda Vice~
Neurodivergent, Queer, Gender-diverse Author
 
{Feed by Aveda Vice} and {Yours, Insatiably by Aveda Vice} - FX, 3rd Dual POV, Monster x Monster, Urban Fantasy.
Own Voices: Autistic, Gender-diverse, Queer
Notes: FX, FF, Monogamish MCs, Queer Side Characters, Autistic FMC
Avirin works in a historical archives institute while hiding her identity as a succubus from the world. Avirin orders a sex worker from an app called Monstr (to provide her necessary life and sexual energy) and opens her door to find her coworker Pye, a death’s-head hawkmoth fae. Pye restores paintings at the historical archives and (according to Avirin) they are office enemies. Now she must decide if Pye is trustworthy enough to keep her secret.... and if she wants to feed on more than their life energy.
My Gush post with additional details.
Disclaimer: Non-traditional pairing, they are monogamish
 
{Skin by Aveda Vice} and {Inextricably Tied by Aveda Vice} - MMF, 3rd Rotating POV, Monster x Monster, Romantic Suspense
Harbin and Flint are investigative partners who have been hired to locate the bodies of a recently caught serial killer. They team up with Agony (a night terror who was extracted from said killer) who may have information to share... if he'll cooperate.
Notes: MMF Love Triangle Turned Polyam, Nonbinary Shadow Person MC, Forced Proximity, Stoic + Chaotic + Chaotic, Bodyguard MMC, Jailor MMC +FMC / Captive MMC
Sex Notes: Touch Starved FMC, Praise, Soft Dom, D/S, Safe Words and Check Ins, Toy Use, Exhibitionism, Ribbed Tongue (Flint), Sex in a "Holy" Place, Fisting, Use of the term "Daddy", DP, "Why Choose" Parts (Agony)
 
~Jae Dixon~
Gender-diverse Author
 
{Song by Jae Dixon} - MX, Monster, 1st Dual POV
Join a beautiful cryptid mothman and a burnt out grad student as they face love, loss, death, & necromancy.
Notes: MX, Nonbinary Mothman, Fated Mates, Diphallic Mothman, every character is referred to as "they/them" until their gender preference has been expressed
Own Voices: Nonbinary
 
~Kaye Draper~
Queer and Gender-diverse Author
 
{Gesa’s Menagerie series by Kaye Draper} - Urban Fantasy, 1st Lightly Rotating POV, Complete series.
Book 1 is permafree on Amazon and you can buy the omnibus versions cheaper than individually ;)
Notes: Pan Polyam, FF, MM, MMFF+, ect.
 
{The Reluctant Necromancer series by Kaye Draper} - Urban Fantasy, 1st Lightly Rotating POV, Complete series.
You can buy the omnibus versions cheaper than individually ;)
Notes: Pan Polyam, Gender-diverse MC, FX, FF, MX, MM, MMXFF+, ect.
 
~Victoria Weyland~
 
{Champagne on Vice by Victoria Weyland} - MF, Monster, 1920s, 3rd multi POV
Notes: Explicit consent, overcoming religious oppression and religious sexual trauma, female empowerment, touch starved FMC, found family, casual affection, diverse sexualities and genders for side characters, every character's skin tone is described including white people
Sex Notes: Bondage, MFF threesome, MFFM foursome, D/S, anal play
Disclaimer: Non-traditional pairing, they are monogamish.
 
~Lily Mayne~
 
{Monstrous series by Lily Mayne} - MM Monster, Post-apocalyptic Dystopian, Series in Progress. 1st POV, some single and some lightly dual.
These books are amazing for consent, overcoming prejudice, coming to terms with trauma, and m/m/pan/everybody everywhere romance. The world building over the series is fantastic. Something I appreciate is that none of the pairings have penetrative sex during their first (or even second or third) encounter, pleasure and the MCs' comfort is the main goal.
 
~Lillian Lark~
 
{Deceived by the Gargoyles by Lillian Lark} - Polyam Monster, 1st Rotating POV
Notes: 3 Gargoyle MMCs, MMMF
 
{Entranced by the Basilisks by Lillian Lark} - MMF Monster, Monster x Monster, 1st Rotating POV
Notes: 2 Basilisk MMCs, MMF
 
~Kathryn Moon~
 
{Tempting Monsters series by Kathryn Moon} - Polyam, Monster, Historical, Series in Progress
Notes: Polyam, MM, MMF+, Bi MMCs
 
{Sweetverse series by Kathryn Moon} - Polyam Omegaverse, Complete series of Interconnected Standalones
Notes: Polyam, MM, MMF+, Bi MMCs
 
{Inheritance of Hunger by Kathryn Moon} - Polyam, Fantasy, Complete series, 1st Rotating POV
Notes: Polyam, MM, MMF+, Bi MMCs
 
{The Librarian's Coven series by Kathryn Moon} - Polyam Fantasy, Complete series, 1st Rotating POV
Notes: Polyam, MM, MMF+, Bi MMCs
 
~Chace Verity ~
Gender-diverse Author
 
{Match with the Demon by Chace Verity} - MM Monster CR, 3rd single POV.
A cute novella about a 39 year old single dad matching with a pleasure turned trash demon on a dating app. Sports bars, trash dates, and queer love ensues.
Notes: "Older" 39 year old MMC, Tentacle Demon MMC
 
~Sarah Honey and Lisa Henry~
 
{Red Heir by Sarah Honey and Lisa Henry} - MM, Fantasy, 3rd Single POV
Notes: Grumpy/Sunshine, Prince and Pauper, Hidden Identity, On a Quest, Band of Misfits, Only One Horse
 
On My TBR:
{Sex Wizards Series by Alethea Faust} - Queer, Poly, Gender-diverse, Fantasy
{The Reanimator's Heart by Kara Jorgensen} - MM, Own Voices Autistic Rep, PNR
{Catch and Release by Isabel Murray} - MM, Merman MMC
More Chace Verity - FF, MM, Queer, ect.
Katee Robert - Queer
Cat Sebastian - Queer Historical
Vaela Denarr and Micah Iannandrea - Lesbian Polyam with Diverse Side Characters, Fantasy
 
Yaoi Manga Reccs:
Twittering Birds Never Fly by Kou Yoneda - MM, Yakuza
Jealousy by Scarlet Beriko - MM, Yakuza
Coyote by Ranmaru Zariya - MM, Urban Fantasy
Hitorijime My Hero by Memeco Arii - MM, School Life
 
Watchable Reccs:
The Owl House - Bi and Lesbian FMCs, Various Queer Side Characters, Neurodivergent Rep
Our Flag Means Death - Gay Pirates (need I say more?), Various Queer Side Characters
The Last of Us - Lesbian FMC, Gay Side Characters in Love
Interview with the Vampire (series) - Messy Gay Vampires
Yuri on Ice - MM, Figure Skating
 
Be sure to check CWs for everything

There are still a few tickets left for the Hoboken Community Center’s annual Taste of Hoboken fundraiser on Tuesday, June 6!
The event has been held for more than twenty years in support of the HCC’s programs, such as the Pantry which supports more than 2,400 residents and families. This event will help to feed, house and provide support to those in need in our community.
More than 25 local restaurants will provide guests with samples of their signature dishes, including Alessio’s, Anthony David’s, Antique Bar and Bakery, Baking Mama, Barbès, Bin 14, Brooklyn Dumpling Shop, Do Good Donuts, Double Dough, Fat Taco Tequila Bar, Fruiti Fi, GTK, Halifax, Hoboken Farms, Il Tavolo di Palmisano, Karma Kafe, La Boheme, Leo’s Grandevous, The Madison Bar & Grill, Merry Hot Cocoa, Montebello Bakery, Orale, Panela, Plaka Souvlaki, The Shepherd & The Knucklehead, Tony Boloney’s, and more to be announced.
Sponsors for the event include Jersey City Medical Center, Applied Housing Management, Bijou Properties, Ironstate, Rockabill, Sunrise Commodities, UBS, Federated National Land, LLC, Foot and Ankle Premier Specialists, Presinzano and Solanki Family, Schmid Family, URSA Development Group and Giannone Wine & Liquor Co, which will provide more than 10 wine, beer and liquor brand tastings.
A silent auction will be held simultaneously on-site and online. Local experiences and gift certificates to local businesses will be available. Those not in attendance can bid virtually by visiting galabid.com/tasteofhoboken2023. There will also be an on-site wine pull.
The event is 21+.