Sexy Laundry
The last few nights have been pretty hard on the old body. The Elk's Club is trying to raise funds to put a new roof on the hall, and we're not talking a simple "new shingle" sort of job here; The old roof is a flat-style, and it needs to be replaced with a proper angled roof that will actually shed water, snow, and other things that Nature throws at it. We're talking over $50k worth of work here. The most recent fund-raising effort was a production of the play "Sexy Laundry" by Michele Riml, put on with the help of the local theatre group, Darkhorse Theatre. They do a dinner-theatre show in the Elk's Hall every Fall, so they also have a vested interest in helping to get a new roof on the building. It's about an hour-and-a-half play, with an intermission after the first hour during which time we served a light meal (sandwiches) and sold drinks and 50/50 tickets and the like.
The evening would start (for me) around 6:15pm when I'd arrive to help get things set up. For me, that mostly meant manning the popcorn machine (my popcorn machine, loaned to the Elk's for this production) for a couple hours to prepare about 75 bags of popcorn. The play would start around 8pm, and during the intermission I'd be the one zipping in and out of the kitchen doling out plates of sandwiches (prepared earlier in the day by the ladies of the Royal Purple) to all the tables. The first two nights were not too bad, but by the third and final night my back and hips were aching from all the weaving I had to do to get around the tables, chairs, and people. I'm also rather sick of the smell of Popcorn right now, and it might be a while before I can stand to eat it again.
The play itself was a great hit, and has been playing throughout Canada in many local theatres. It's a simple, one-scene play set in a swanky hotel room. The two characters, Alice and Henry, have been married for 25 years; Alice thinks they need to spice up their sexual relationship, and Henry is happy with things as they are. Armed with a copy of "Sex for Dummies" Alice has dragged Henry off the "The L" for a weekend of romance and rekindling. What ensues is a hilarious romp as the couple tries to overcome some of their (mostly Henry's) conservative traits and explore new possibilities. There's no nudity, but it's not a show for the kiddies due to the occasional explective, and some suggestive scenes.
During the intermission, some of the members of the Darkhorse Theatre group also act out commercials for the major sponsors of the show. One of the funniest ones (IMO) was for APEX, an oil-field supply company. In their skit, the main character is a young man looking for "All Bodies EXtreme" - an erotic boutique that has the supplies he needs for a friend's upcoming Stag Party. Unfortunately, he's had a case of "Welder's Flash" and has worse eyesite than Mr. Magoo. Mistaking the "P" for a "B", he enters the APEX shop looking for "Nipples", "Lubricant", and "Protection." The clerk, an attractive young woman, doesn't realize he's looking for Stag-Party supplies, and he doesn't realize he's in the wrong store. She sells him an assortment of pipe-nipples, a can of WD-40, a head-to-toe Hazmat suit, and a roll of duct-tape. The poor fellow is clearly embarassed and intimidated at shopping in what he thinks is a "sex shop" and his reaction to the suggestion of the duct-tape was particularly hilarious: "Wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-what's that for?!" to which she replies that it's great for "tying things up or down" amoung other uses. ;)
The show ended around 11:30pm most nights, but then there was clean-up and other duties. This made for three very late-nights in a row, often well-past 1am. Further, on Saturday morning I had to drive The Teenager into town so he could be at his new job at the Co-op at 8am! That made Saturday an awfully long day, and both Trixstir and I slept until 11am this morning! To top it all off, the Elks called a District Meeting tonight, so I was once again at the Elks' Hall from 5:30pm until about 9:30pm. I'm sorry to say that I half-dozed through much of the meeting; I was still pretty tired from the previous three nights, and some of the members from the other lodges were re-hashing some topics over and over. One topic alone took a good 30-45 minutes, and it felt like the meeting was never going to end. Normally after a meeting members will stay and socialize for a while, but after this one several of us (myself included) went straight home.
Spring is definitely here, as I've noticed green grass emerging all over, and more and more machines are starting to come in to the shop. This coming week I've got to crack down and get a few older units fixed and out the door before their owners actually need them to start cutting lawns. I've also had more requests (most of which I've had to turn down) to repair motorcyles, dirt-bikes, quads, and other ATVs. The problem is that most of these machines have engines that are more specialized than a regular "utility engine" and I don't have the training or materials to handle them. I have a friend in Calgary (you know who you are) with an interest in such things, and I think it would be an ideal fit to have him come out here and expand the business. :)
In the meantime though, I'm heading for bed... Tomorrow's another busy day, and it's going to start with trimming Molly's hooves - she really can't wait any longer to get that done. :/
The evening would start (for me) around 6:15pm when I'd arrive to help get things set up. For me, that mostly meant manning the popcorn machine (my popcorn machine, loaned to the Elk's for this production) for a couple hours to prepare about 75 bags of popcorn. The play would start around 8pm, and during the intermission I'd be the one zipping in and out of the kitchen doling out plates of sandwiches (prepared earlier in the day by the ladies of the Royal Purple) to all the tables. The first two nights were not too bad, but by the third and final night my back and hips were aching from all the weaving I had to do to get around the tables, chairs, and people. I'm also rather sick of the smell of Popcorn right now, and it might be a while before I can stand to eat it again.
The play itself was a great hit, and has been playing throughout Canada in many local theatres. It's a simple, one-scene play set in a swanky hotel room. The two characters, Alice and Henry, have been married for 25 years; Alice thinks they need to spice up their sexual relationship, and Henry is happy with things as they are. Armed with a copy of "Sex for Dummies" Alice has dragged Henry off the "The L" for a weekend of romance and rekindling. What ensues is a hilarious romp as the couple tries to overcome some of their (mostly Henry's) conservative traits and explore new possibilities. There's no nudity, but it's not a show for the kiddies due to the occasional explective, and some suggestive scenes.
During the intermission, some of the members of the Darkhorse Theatre group also act out commercials for the major sponsors of the show. One of the funniest ones (IMO) was for APEX, an oil-field supply company. In their skit, the main character is a young man looking for "All Bodies EXtreme" - an erotic boutique that has the supplies he needs for a friend's upcoming Stag Party. Unfortunately, he's had a case of "Welder's Flash" and has worse eyesite than Mr. Magoo. Mistaking the "P" for a "B", he enters the APEX shop looking for "Nipples", "Lubricant", and "Protection." The clerk, an attractive young woman, doesn't realize he's looking for Stag-Party supplies, and he doesn't realize he's in the wrong store. She sells him an assortment of pipe-nipples, a can of WD-40, a head-to-toe Hazmat suit, and a roll of duct-tape. The poor fellow is clearly embarassed and intimidated at shopping in what he thinks is a "sex shop" and his reaction to the suggestion of the duct-tape was particularly hilarious: "Wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-what's that for?!" to which she replies that it's great for "tying things up or down" amoung other uses. ;)
The show ended around 11:30pm most nights, but then there was clean-up and other duties. This made for three very late-nights in a row, often well-past 1am. Further, on Saturday morning I had to drive The Teenager into town so he could be at his new job at the Co-op at 8am! That made Saturday an awfully long day, and both Trixstir and I slept until 11am this morning! To top it all off, the Elks called a District Meeting tonight, so I was once again at the Elks' Hall from 5:30pm until about 9:30pm. I'm sorry to say that I half-dozed through much of the meeting; I was still pretty tired from the previous three nights, and some of the members from the other lodges were re-hashing some topics over and over. One topic alone took a good 30-45 minutes, and it felt like the meeting was never going to end. Normally after a meeting members will stay and socialize for a while, but after this one several of us (myself included) went straight home.
Spring is definitely here, as I've noticed green grass emerging all over, and more and more machines are starting to come in to the shop. This coming week I've got to crack down and get a few older units fixed and out the door before their owners actually need them to start cutting lawns. I've also had more requests (most of which I've had to turn down) to repair motorcyles, dirt-bikes, quads, and other ATVs. The problem is that most of these machines have engines that are more specialized than a regular "utility engine" and I don't have the training or materials to handle them. I have a friend in Calgary (you know who you are) with an interest in such things, and I think it would be an ideal fit to have him come out here and expand the business. :)
In the meantime though, I'm heading for bed... Tomorrow's another busy day, and it's going to start with trimming Molly's hooves - she really can't wait any longer to get that done. :/