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Weekend Roundup
'twas a long, busy weekend.
After retrieving Baby Blue Friday morning, I left work early to load in at Ridgely Middle School. There were good spaces available on the bus loop (a first) and many students and PTA members on hand to assist (also unusual.) My only load-in issue was the hand truck I bought last weekend; it turns out to have a slight defect in manufacturing, a bit of metal extending further than it should which prevents the truck's handlebars from being inserted in the cart position. I bought it for the cart position. The neighbors across the street run a machinist shop, so I'll probably just take it over there and see if they can trim off that metal, but I was stuck with an unsteerable cart for the weekend. One of the students helped me maneuver the daggone thing. He is my young prince :) It took me only 45 minutes to load in and set up, which is remarkable, and as it turns out Ridgely's bus loop is pretty much a dog park. So I met and played with many dogs, including 3 puppies, my fave being Cody the German Shepherd, who at 5 months is bigger than the golden retrievers in the office. And he's a total baby. Picked up a Christmas present for my brother on the way home and made more ornaments the rest of the night. Although I was stumped - what happened to 'Criminal Intent'? It was advertised as starting Nov 7 at 9pm...and instead there was House.
Having set up structurally the night before, loading in the rest of my stuff and setting up inventory wasn't nearly as big a chore as usual, which was fortunate because somewhere along the line I sprained my ankle. To my chagrin, I discovered I'd forgotten to restock some of my prints - specifically House, Dr Who and Harry Potter. Naturally, I was asked for Dr Who pics. Whoops. Nevertheless, I did quite well, about 25% over last year's sales, and apparently I was one of the few who did well sales-wise. Mostly the logo ornaments, which I expect, but also small, animal-themed plaques, which I normally sell 1 or 2 of, I sold 5. Frantically making more of them for next weekend! Had some rather esoteric requests, like Elon College(!) and Fresno State(!!) but those customers were willing to commission them. Mostly it was Ravens & Steelers, big surprise. The kids were back to help load out, and somewhat amazingly, I was home by 4. Usually I get back 5:30-6ish. Settled in to do ornaments and watch football; I managed to go 17-3 on the college games, and one of the 3 was Penn State/Iowa; I doubt anybody got that one right! Also watched tapes, and concluded that Eleventh Hour is just poor. I don't think I'll bother with it anymore.
Sunday was a wee bit frustrating; I went to Borders to get a CD listed as in stock, it wasn't. Went to Michael's to restock on ornaments, they were out of them - but only my kind. Went to Target for more ink for the printer - they're out of my kind. Went to another Michael's for ornaments and they only had a couple of mine. Went to Circuit City to check out the closing sale - they didn't have half of what I was after, and what was there was still full priced and none of the employees knew squat about anything. Wasted trip. I was already sore from working the show, so taking CJ to her last training class didn't help. Naturally she also decided to conveniently forget many of the things she's learned. But she also played well with the other dog, Nina, and was nice to Nina's owners, both of which are big improvements. I might put her in intermediate classes at some point. Then CJ & went home and watched the Ravens conduct a full demolishment of the Texans. It was almost funny - if you were a Ravens fan. I needed it, because otherwise I was awful - finished last in the office pool for the first time ever. Oops. Did catch Bill Maher's show, very sharp (President Bush is writing a book, 'The Audacity of Huh?'). And finally caught up on Dexter. I tend to agree with Dexter - Prado has no idea what he's getting into. And did a bunch of ornaments and burned some plaques. Busy busy me.
After retrieving Baby Blue Friday morning, I left work early to load in at Ridgely Middle School. There were good spaces available on the bus loop (a first) and many students and PTA members on hand to assist (also unusual.) My only load-in issue was the hand truck I bought last weekend; it turns out to have a slight defect in manufacturing, a bit of metal extending further than it should which prevents the truck's handlebars from being inserted in the cart position. I bought it for the cart position. The neighbors across the street run a machinist shop, so I'll probably just take it over there and see if they can trim off that metal, but I was stuck with an unsteerable cart for the weekend. One of the students helped me maneuver the daggone thing. He is my young prince :) It took me only 45 minutes to load in and set up, which is remarkable, and as it turns out Ridgely's bus loop is pretty much a dog park. So I met and played with many dogs, including 3 puppies, my fave being Cody the German Shepherd, who at 5 months is bigger than the golden retrievers in the office. And he's a total baby. Picked up a Christmas present for my brother on the way home and made more ornaments the rest of the night. Although I was stumped - what happened to 'Criminal Intent'? It was advertised as starting Nov 7 at 9pm...and instead there was House.
Having set up structurally the night before, loading in the rest of my stuff and setting up inventory wasn't nearly as big a chore as usual, which was fortunate because somewhere along the line I sprained my ankle. To my chagrin, I discovered I'd forgotten to restock some of my prints - specifically House, Dr Who and Harry Potter. Naturally, I was asked for Dr Who pics. Whoops. Nevertheless, I did quite well, about 25% over last year's sales, and apparently I was one of the few who did well sales-wise. Mostly the logo ornaments, which I expect, but also small, animal-themed plaques, which I normally sell 1 or 2 of, I sold 5. Frantically making more of them for next weekend! Had some rather esoteric requests, like Elon College(!) and Fresno State(!!) but those customers were willing to commission them. Mostly it was Ravens & Steelers, big surprise. The kids were back to help load out, and somewhat amazingly, I was home by 4. Usually I get back 5:30-6ish. Settled in to do ornaments and watch football; I managed to go 17-3 on the college games, and one of the 3 was Penn State/Iowa; I doubt anybody got that one right! Also watched tapes, and concluded that Eleventh Hour is just poor. I don't think I'll bother with it anymore.
Sunday was a wee bit frustrating; I went to Borders to get a CD listed as in stock, it wasn't. Went to Michael's to restock on ornaments, they were out of them - but only my kind. Went to Target for more ink for the printer - they're out of my kind. Went to another Michael's for ornaments and they only had a couple of mine. Went to Circuit City to check out the closing sale - they didn't have half of what I was after, and what was there was still full priced and none of the employees knew squat about anything. Wasted trip. I was already sore from working the show, so taking CJ to her last training class didn't help. Naturally she also decided to conveniently forget many of the things she's learned. But she also played well with the other dog, Nina, and was nice to Nina's owners, both of which are big improvements. I might put her in intermediate classes at some point. Then CJ & went home and watched the Ravens conduct a full demolishment of the Texans. It was almost funny - if you were a Ravens fan. I needed it, because otherwise I was awful - finished last in the office pool for the first time ever. Oops. Did catch Bill Maher's show, very sharp (President Bush is writing a book, 'The Audacity of Huh?'). And finally caught up on Dexter. I tend to agree with Dexter - Prado has no idea what he's getting into. And did a bunch of ornaments and burned some plaques. Busy busy me.