So I have the week off, and I've been scrolling Lemmy and having all this loneliness epidemic themed stuff jumping out at me today. Kept thinking "man, I should invite people to my local haunt, even if we just grunted on our phones or something."Then I saw this community mentioned in a thread about OSS dating apps. So screw it, let's add a post here.

36 M, recently separated, seeking lemmy users who want to chat with a lemmy user IRL in Ottawa, ON. I like movies, pinball even though I suck at it, interested in (if not super knowledgeable about) local history, love live music (rock, punk, psych, jazz, funk, etc.), weird life stories, and what if contemplations (ask me about my gradual tiki night idea). I also make shitty collage type things recently.

You? You're a lemmy user! You want to leave the house mostly so you can say you did it! Maybe the things above are interesting to you! Maybe you don't actually give a shit! Who knows - all are welcome! Bonus points if, like me, you are not a lemming but a sh.it.head.

I'd want to meet up at my super-hip local haunt in the west end. Looking at this from a mostly platonic perspective, but hey, who knows?

I'm not in Ottawa (but have visited!). Until someone in Ottawa IRL shows up we can chat here if you like

I like ... pinball even though I suck at it,

I just got back from the Pinball Hall of Fame the day before yesterday. I'm just a casual fan of pinball, but I had a ton of fun! They have modern ones and an extensive collection of vintage ones.

I actually found myself enjoying the ones from the 50s and 60s more than the modern ones. Each one was a time capsule of modern events of those days including the space race, casual racism, and misogyny.

I like to see how far we've come that those are generally vintage ideas and would have no place in modern society. The simple controls (and 5 balls for 25 cents!) also made them more compelling to play than the modern ones which took 2, 3 or 4 quarters to play 3 balls.

If you're ever in Vegas and you like pinball, I recommend it. There's no entry fee to get in, just spend your quarters to play (and they have plenty of bill changers so bring cash).

Are there any particular pinball machines you like?

That's awesome! Yes, some of those older machines are amazing time capsules for their eras. Not the biggest fan of more old school games (though I do find myself playing Bobby Orr's Power Play when I'm running low on tokens at my haunt), but I can see the appeal.

My two top games right now are Stern's Godzilla (I don't know what it is, but I keep coming back to it. Has to be the Blue Oyster Cult song for Godzilla multiball), and a Ghostbuster's machine at one of the more well known pinball spots in town. What can I say, I have a soft spot for gimmicks (like the piercing scream out of the Ghostbuster machine, it always draws a couple startled glances). Like other Stern machines too, but I find myself gravitating to my old standards. Also dig games with a 'sub-basement' table mechanic (Haunted House is one), just seems neat.

Will keep this in mind if I find myself in Vegas! Not high on my list given the ... well, everything going on right now on that side of the border, but that does look right up my alley.

Did you check out anything else cool in Vegas? Omega Mart's also high on my 'check this out if sanity is restored' list.

They had the Ghostbusters machine there at the Pinball hall of fame, but I didn't end up playing it. Now I wish I had. I did play the Sterns Family Guy machine, which had a cool, but difficult to play mini pinball game inside the pinball game as seen in this picture in the upper right. There was a glare on the glass so I had to lean in to see clearly, and getting that bonus game to active was difficult, but I did it.

Not high on my list given the … well, everything going on right now on that side of the border, but that does look right up my alley.

I hear ya. We're semi regular visitors to Canada during the year, and the border checks going both ways are quite a bit more stressful. I miss visiting my wonderful brothers and sisters from the Great White North. You can't find All Dressed chips and the poutine down here in the States sucks.

Did you check out anything else cool in Vegas? Omega Mart’s also high on my ‘check this out if sanity is restored’ list.

I didn't know about Omega Mart! Thats now on my list for a future visit (whenever that happens). I was able to go to the Formula 1 race and really enjoyed watching it. We also hit the Smithsonian Atomic Testing Museum as well as Red Rocks Canyon for a hike.

Aaannd the Atomic Testing Museum is added to my Vegas list. The pop culture exhibit seems especially cool, I love the atomic age aesthetic.

The Family Guy table looks really cool! Lol, yep, pinball within pinball can be a bit tricky. Will have to keep an eye out if it pops up when folks swap out machines. Come to think of it, your post reminded me that there's a pinball museum not too far from Ottawa I've been meaning to check out.

the poutine down here in the States sucks.

Unless it's served by in a roadside chip stand with a dirty fryer by a surly Quebequois, it's just sparkling gravy curd fries. Or worse ... disco fries shudder. You have my deepest condolences, and I hope you are reunited with poutine soon.

I've gotta admit, I miss visiting the United States - I used to go to Palm Desert/Palm Springs every few years and actually really like it (have a thing for mid-century modern architecture etc., so lots of cool stuff to see wandering about ... you know, until the heat stroke hits). That and I had a short list of things I wanted to visit - don't ask me why, but stuff like Cadillac Ranch and other roadside oddities has a strong pull for me. Hopefully I'll feel ok about visiting again.

Any place in Canada you particularly like, or really want to check out but haven't yet?