Update 1: Renfair & Pennsic
2008 Annual Highway Miles: 11,033
Well, I'm home, and have had a few days to sort-of-rest, so it's time I got updates posted and got back to work.
Let's see... Where was I? Well, we left home and drove up to Great Lakes. We left so late on Friday, and we were all so tired, that we ended up stopping for the night in the neighborhood of King's Island and getting a hotel room. We missed all but the last hour of the renfair on Saturday. Tomas insisted on going in and checking on things anyhow. I decided I wasn't going to change into garb for all of one hour, so I just wandered around like a patron.
Sunday went fine, and then we switched tents and resorted inventory for Pennsic on Monday. We got there after 10pm local time. We ended up positioning the trailer, putting up roof and walls, and then sleeping in the otherwise empty booth overnight. Finding dinner was a challenge that night... We ended up at the new Pilot travel center getting Subway. The place we ate my first Pennsic had changed ownership and then promptly gone out of business. It was good that first year, but proceeded to suck thereafter, hence the going out of business.
The next day we got the booth set up, but there was a hitch... Our insurance wasn't considered good enough. We opened for almost a day, but then got shut down for half a day until Tomas sorted out the snafu. We were fine last year with the insurance we had, but this year the requirements had changed. After half a day of running around trying to satisfy the lawyers, we were finally open again. After that, it was business as usual.
Pennsic seemed to start slowly this year, but by the end it was the best (financially) Pennsic ever for us. Not so for some other merchants, unfortunately. But we're hard to hurt, since we do repairs and alterations as well as new sales. Even when folks won't spend for a new whatnot, they probably will consider fixing the old whatnot... And that builds a lot of goodwill so folks will come back to us when it *is* time to purchase the new thing.
We set up camp with Dragon's Claw Tuesday afternoon. The new viking slat bed my father-in-law made for me is great! It was wonderful to have all my bedding up off the ground. Of course, what wasn't so fun was having to move the whole tent on Thursday or Friday since our land agent messed up the math and didn't leave enough space for everyone... But many hands make light work, and with three other guys helping, it was easy enough.
In the course of this war, I did discover that my tent it showing some age. Admittedly it is about ten years old. It now has a leaky seam, and the rain fly poles have poked holes through their pockets so it won't stay taut anymore. I need to repair it before next spring. I want a proper canvas pavilion more than ever, but it isn't likely I'll ever get one. First off, they are expensive, and second, they take up a lot more space than my current nylon tent. The nylon one breaks down into a small duffel bag. A pavilion... Well, that isn't physically possible. We already have too much gear going to war with us. We almost didn't have space for the slat bed. So, repair it is, for now...
Other than that... I took one interesting class on Russian archaeology. I bought a couple of books. I replaced my old sandals with two new nicer pairs (deductible as a work expense). I picked up some new cat toys for my kitties and the ones that live at the vet's office. I got a flail with dice on it as a gift for Phil (it made him giggle)... I saw one of my exes, but at least he wasn't obnoxious. The weather was cooler than I'd ever experienced before at this event, and I was glad for cloaks and blankets.
Oh, and while I was gone, our garage burned down. No panic, everyone is fine. Apparently the police believe it was a gang initiation, as several arsons occurred that night. I'm looking at it as a mixed blessing. Our antique garage wasn't in good repair. The roof was badly leaking (almost to the point where it might fall in) and the wood was rotten. We were going to have to tear it down anyhow. Now the insurance agency will be providing us with a check to do so. There was nothing valuable inside. We mainly used it to store the trash until trash day, so the neighborhood strays couldn't tear up the bags. It was just an odd phone call to get early in the morning.
At the end of Pennsic, we packed up and went back to Great Lakes. Sunday was the very last day of the faire. After all the tear-down, packing and driving, I was too exhausted to work. I literally ended up spending the morning sleeping under a table. In the afternoon the boss brought in a cot, and he took a nap, then I did. The day ended with a wash-out; just like Tennessee. It rained fiercely.
That last Monday, we spent most of the day drying out and packing up stuff, and re-arranging the truck (again). Tomas sold the camper we were sleeping in, so we didn't have to haul that back with us, thankfully. Finally, we started the drive home. Since I'd slept most of the day Sunday, I did most of the driving. We did get home that night, but it was quite late. It felt good to sleep in my own bed!
Well, I'm home, and have had a few days to sort-of-rest, so it's time I got updates posted and got back to work.
Let's see... Where was I? Well, we left home and drove up to Great Lakes. We left so late on Friday, and we were all so tired, that we ended up stopping for the night in the neighborhood of King's Island and getting a hotel room. We missed all but the last hour of the renfair on Saturday. Tomas insisted on going in and checking on things anyhow. I decided I wasn't going to change into garb for all of one hour, so I just wandered around like a patron.
Sunday went fine, and then we switched tents and resorted inventory for Pennsic on Monday. We got there after 10pm local time. We ended up positioning the trailer, putting up roof and walls, and then sleeping in the otherwise empty booth overnight. Finding dinner was a challenge that night... We ended up at the new Pilot travel center getting Subway. The place we ate my first Pennsic had changed ownership and then promptly gone out of business. It was good that first year, but proceeded to suck thereafter, hence the going out of business.
The next day we got the booth set up, but there was a hitch... Our insurance wasn't considered good enough. We opened for almost a day, but then got shut down for half a day until Tomas sorted out the snafu. We were fine last year with the insurance we had, but this year the requirements had changed. After half a day of running around trying to satisfy the lawyers, we were finally open again. After that, it was business as usual.
Pennsic seemed to start slowly this year, but by the end it was the best (financially) Pennsic ever for us. Not so for some other merchants, unfortunately. But we're hard to hurt, since we do repairs and alterations as well as new sales. Even when folks won't spend for a new whatnot, they probably will consider fixing the old whatnot... And that builds a lot of goodwill so folks will come back to us when it *is* time to purchase the new thing.
We set up camp with Dragon's Claw Tuesday afternoon. The new viking slat bed my father-in-law made for me is great! It was wonderful to have all my bedding up off the ground. Of course, what wasn't so fun was having to move the whole tent on Thursday or Friday since our land agent messed up the math and didn't leave enough space for everyone... But many hands make light work, and with three other guys helping, it was easy enough.
In the course of this war, I did discover that my tent it showing some age. Admittedly it is about ten years old. It now has a leaky seam, and the rain fly poles have poked holes through their pockets so it won't stay taut anymore. I need to repair it before next spring. I want a proper canvas pavilion more than ever, but it isn't likely I'll ever get one. First off, they are expensive, and second, they take up a lot more space than my current nylon tent. The nylon one breaks down into a small duffel bag. A pavilion... Well, that isn't physically possible. We already have too much gear going to war with us. We almost didn't have space for the slat bed. So, repair it is, for now...
Other than that... I took one interesting class on Russian archaeology. I bought a couple of books. I replaced my old sandals with two new nicer pairs (deductible as a work expense). I picked up some new cat toys for my kitties and the ones that live at the vet's office. I got a flail with dice on it as a gift for Phil (it made him giggle)... I saw one of my exes, but at least he wasn't obnoxious. The weather was cooler than I'd ever experienced before at this event, and I was glad for cloaks and blankets.
Oh, and while I was gone, our garage burned down. No panic, everyone is fine. Apparently the police believe it was a gang initiation, as several arsons occurred that night. I'm looking at it as a mixed blessing. Our antique garage wasn't in good repair. The roof was badly leaking (almost to the point where it might fall in) and the wood was rotten. We were going to have to tear it down anyhow. Now the insurance agency will be providing us with a check to do so. There was nothing valuable inside. We mainly used it to store the trash until trash day, so the neighborhood strays couldn't tear up the bags. It was just an odd phone call to get early in the morning.
At the end of Pennsic, we packed up and went back to Great Lakes. Sunday was the very last day of the faire. After all the tear-down, packing and driving, I was too exhausted to work. I literally ended up spending the morning sleeping under a table. In the afternoon the boss brought in a cot, and he took a nap, then I did. The day ended with a wash-out; just like Tennessee. It rained fiercely.
That last Monday, we spent most of the day drying out and packing up stuff, and re-arranging the truck (again). Tomas sold the camper we were sleeping in, so we didn't have to haul that back with us, thankfully. Finally, we started the drive home. Since I'd slept most of the day Sunday, I did most of the driving. We did get home that night, but it was quite late. It felt good to sleep in my own bed!