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stitchwhich) wrote2014-10-22 04:41 am
stitchwhich) wrote2014-10-22 04:41 am
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It was actually a tough weekend. We started with a slow start from our house but settled into a comfortable drive, and stopped at "our" Dairy Queen, which is located about midpoint between our house and the turn off to Interstate 95. And there our day took a downturn since someone decided that keying our truck from the back taillight (I didn't know you could key a taillight) to the front grill would be fun. They had so much fun that they went back to the middle where the passenger doors were and swiped a couple more lines too. But our insurance company has it covered so we'll only have to pay the (minor) deductible and the truck will be repaired. The estimate is for about $1568. I hadn't expected it to be quite that high. It appears that the whole passenger side will have to be sanded and repainted. The work order even calls for removing and cleaning the little metal thingies that say "V8" and stuff like that. You know, "I'm a big important truck" decorations. I knew they'd be removing those bits but didn't expect that they'd be throwing in cleaning and polishing of them.
In the meanwhile we have a 'comparable' replacement vehicle. A Toyota Tundra stretch-cab truck that is bright cherry red. Bossman is in love with the rear camera but I miss our old truck. For one thing, it doesn't require a step stool for me to get into our own truck. This replacement one is lacking step bars. So he gets the truck this week while I get the Soul. I win!
Camping is hard on us. Too hard, I think. I do enjoy myself once we get things set up, and teardown is fairly easy, but it takes a day or two for me to stop aching after we get set up and boy, does the world seem nasty while I'm in pain. I ended up telling the Autocrat, who is a dear friend, that I hated her event. When she asked why I told her it was because we were assigned camping space on a bad slope (we were - I had to crawl up my mattress every hour or so each night) and were surrounded by cars, as if we were camping in a parking lot. That is a problem, and I know that it is one they've been working on correcting, but still - it wasn't why I hated the event. I hated the exhaustion and the pain of setting up and 'getting going'. The cure, of course, is to get back into better shape so it doesn't affect us so badly but even with that, what would make it better would be to actually attend for the length of the event instead of arriving late on Friday afternoon and leaving again before noon on Sunday. Medieval camping is a lot like moving house - and we're just getting too tired to enjoy the experience. (And I was thinking about something while we were packing out. In the 'old days', someone almost always had some sort of music playing loudly during pack out, usually a Celtic band or something not-quite-modern. But we don't do that any longer. I wonder why we lost that?)
I discussed the problem with friends, who suggested trying to switch to an RV or towable camper. That is one possibility although it 'harshes our medieval experience'. We'll have to do something because the other thing that happened over the weekend is that our tent roof ripped at one of the roof ridge grommets and the tent is now dead. It is too old to repair - while I was trying to get comfortable at night I was looking at the roof canvas and cataloguing all the spots where the fabric has worn thin enough to be nearly transparent. It is time to retire the poor thing and this C-shaped rip around the grommet just collapsed any ideas about keeping it. This too, is strange - we're down to a wall tent and a wedge tent. We haven't had so few tents in all the time we've been together.
I've been drifting around the house for the last couple of days, feeling rather lost. I keep getting the nagging "need to get to work" sensation even though I gave up my job on Saturday and no longer am facing monthly deadlines. It feels very odd. I tried to assuage the nagging feeling by going on OSCAR to help with commentary but my timing is poor and others have mostly already written what I would have said. Perhaps later today I will remember that I do have a deadline and get started back on my sewing projects for Holiday Faire. Eeep! And maybe I'll remember that I need to send in my merchant's fees!!!
Our turnover-of-office was fun - my Boss (Triton Herald) gave me a pair of penguin socks. I clutched them to my chest and squeaked, "Dobby is free!" She made me laugh. Poor Bossman missed it though. He was off getting warm outer layers for me and my protégé. Once the sun went down (and why IS it that the Royals always seem to face the populace into the sun?) it got cold fast. I thought I was prepared for it but I was quite mistaken. He also fetched out truck so I wouldn't have to walk from the court area back to our camp. I was embarrassed about that but did appreciate it. I'd been in sufficient physical distress getting to the court area across the rutted campground that I was in tears and near to collapse by the time I got there. He was concerned about me. I hate it when I make him worry. But there was no way to avoid taking the long walk at a near run - Herald's Point closed at 5:00 and we had to get all the important stuff out of it and put somewhere safe while at the same time, court was scheduled to start at 5:00 and we (my protégé and I) had to be there for the turnover ceremony. We were pushing ourselves pretty hard!
I didn't see anything but our camp and Herald's Point - missed visiting camps or going to the merchant's. I didn't see Gwenyth, darn it, or Raimond and Jaelle. But I did get to spend time with others who I usually miss just about as much and that was a pleasant surprise.
In the meanwhile we have a 'comparable' replacement vehicle. A Toyota Tundra stretch-cab truck that is bright cherry red. Bossman is in love with the rear camera but I miss our old truck. For one thing, it doesn't require a step stool for me to get into our own truck. This replacement one is lacking step bars. So he gets the truck this week while I get the Soul. I win!
Camping is hard on us. Too hard, I think. I do enjoy myself once we get things set up, and teardown is fairly easy, but it takes a day or two for me to stop aching after we get set up and boy, does the world seem nasty while I'm in pain. I ended up telling the Autocrat, who is a dear friend, that I hated her event. When she asked why I told her it was because we were assigned camping space on a bad slope (we were - I had to crawl up my mattress every hour or so each night) and were surrounded by cars, as if we were camping in a parking lot. That is a problem, and I know that it is one they've been working on correcting, but still - it wasn't why I hated the event. I hated the exhaustion and the pain of setting up and 'getting going'. The cure, of course, is to get back into better shape so it doesn't affect us so badly but even with that, what would make it better would be to actually attend for the length of the event instead of arriving late on Friday afternoon and leaving again before noon on Sunday. Medieval camping is a lot like moving house - and we're just getting too tired to enjoy the experience. (And I was thinking about something while we were packing out. In the 'old days', someone almost always had some sort of music playing loudly during pack out, usually a Celtic band or something not-quite-modern. But we don't do that any longer. I wonder why we lost that?)
I discussed the problem with friends, who suggested trying to switch to an RV or towable camper. That is one possibility although it 'harshes our medieval experience'. We'll have to do something because the other thing that happened over the weekend is that our tent roof ripped at one of the roof ridge grommets and the tent is now dead. It is too old to repair - while I was trying to get comfortable at night I was looking at the roof canvas and cataloguing all the spots where the fabric has worn thin enough to be nearly transparent. It is time to retire the poor thing and this C-shaped rip around the grommet just collapsed any ideas about keeping it. This too, is strange - we're down to a wall tent and a wedge tent. We haven't had so few tents in all the time we've been together.
I've been drifting around the house for the last couple of days, feeling rather lost. I keep getting the nagging "need to get to work" sensation even though I gave up my job on Saturday and no longer am facing monthly deadlines. It feels very odd. I tried to assuage the nagging feeling by going on OSCAR to help with commentary but my timing is poor and others have mostly already written what I would have said. Perhaps later today I will remember that I do have a deadline and get started back on my sewing projects for Holiday Faire. Eeep! And maybe I'll remember that I need to send in my merchant's fees!!!
Our turnover-of-office was fun - my Boss (Triton Herald) gave me a pair of penguin socks. I clutched them to my chest and squeaked, "Dobby is free!" She made me laugh. Poor Bossman missed it though. He was off getting warm outer layers for me and my protégé. Once the sun went down (and why IS it that the Royals always seem to face the populace into the sun?) it got cold fast. I thought I was prepared for it but I was quite mistaken. He also fetched out truck so I wouldn't have to walk from the court area back to our camp. I was embarrassed about that but did appreciate it. I'd been in sufficient physical distress getting to the court area across the rutted campground that I was in tears and near to collapse by the time I got there. He was concerned about me. I hate it when I make him worry. But there was no way to avoid taking the long walk at a near run - Herald's Point closed at 5:00 and we had to get all the important stuff out of it and put somewhere safe while at the same time, court was scheduled to start at 5:00 and we (my protégé and I) had to be there for the turnover ceremony. We were pushing ourselves pretty hard!
I didn't see anything but our camp and Herald's Point - missed visiting camps or going to the merchant's. I didn't see Gwenyth, darn it, or Raimond and Jaelle. But I did get to spend time with others who I usually miss just about as much and that was a pleasant surprise.