Swim 500 w/ the men?

Opinions wanted on this one - I have a meet this weekend and on day 2 the 500 FR is seeded by time and gender (men are separated from women.) I am actually used to swimming mixed seeding in distance events. Provided the meet director would accommodate me (and s/he may not), would you ask to be seeded with the men to get the full racing experience? As it stands, I'm seeded 1st of the women (2nd place is 48 seconds behind) and I would be seeded 5th with the men. The only other thing to consider is that if I swim with the women, I will have 1 hour rest until my next event. If I swim with the men, I will have about 30 minutes until my next event. And I have 3 events left to swim after the 500 FR. And, to confirm, am I correct in assuming that if I swam with the men, the time would not count for USMS purposes due to my changing the event/ program order? But am I correct in assuming that my other swims would count assuming all the rules are followed? This meet is for pure racing fun. Times are irrelevant for me. Oh, and I'm used to swimming by myself which I find sort of boring; however, I have gone PB's swimming solo or having competition. And, I will get creamed by some of the top men (will be a fast heat), but that does not bother me greatly. It's more of a learning experience. Thanks!