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stitchwhich) wrote2023-08-27 12:18 am
stitchwhich) wrote2023-08-27 12:18 am
I Bet You Were Curious
I bet you were wondering how it went at Pennsic with my boss (Deputy Mayor). Well! We got there the Tuesday before landgrab and set up our tent, then went down to dinner and to see the crew already on site. The Mayor pulled up a seat next to me to greet me and so I thought, "what the heck, might as well", and told him that I had formulated a plan for my booth - that if I caught my boss berating anyone or belittling them, I'd put a stop to it right there, talk to her privately, and if it happened again I'd be kicking her out of the Troll Booth, so this was a warning that he might get a radio call once the event opened up. He asked me to let him know if I did such a thing, which of course I agreed to, but warned that if I had to take action right then in front of a volunteer to let them know that they were being backed up, I would do so. And I explained what the current definition of a bully was, and how my DM exemplified the title. And that I would not tolerate it towards me or any member of my staff. He looked solemn, said, "Fair enough" and wandered off to greet/meet other members of the staff.
On land grab day my DM could not be any nicer, more tentative in her behavior, or bend over backwards any further. She asked permission to enter the Troll Booth. She asked if I minded if she worked at the head of the line as a Greeter, and "of course I could tell her to move on if things got too hectic." I had torqued my back on Tuesday night walking to the portojohn (And fell in the soaking grass and had to crawl across that in my nightgown to reach a trailer so I could use its hitch to pull myself up off the ground. I was a sobby baby there for a little while. And why couldn't I have fallen after I had taken care of business? Huh? What is with that?) She gave me a ride to the booth and my camp every day; pleasant, cheerful, supportive. I swear to gawd, I was sure there was a pod buried somewhere on the grounds, but no - it turned out that the Mayor, and then separately her Peer, both had a talk with her about attitude and the handling of volunteers. She couldn't have been a better Deputy Mayor this year. For me anyway. I heard from other departments that things were not going so well there. There were complaints to the upcoming Mayor and some other staff members. The upshot was that she was informed that while she could be on staff next year, it would not be in any job that had her in charge of any volunteer. They offered her a brand-new position and I swear, I was jealous. It isn't a done deal yet so I can't say what the job is, but I would jump on it in a heartbeat and so would Arni. It is so very needed. (Budgetary negotiations may preclude the job but we'll see. I do think it is a necessary thing given how big Pennsic has become.) *
Our camping situation sucked. We did not get asked to move the tent to a different spot/orientation this year as we had in the past. I appreciated that and think it might have been due to everyone's awareness that we're only going to be in that spot until next year and then it will open up. But unloading the truck and setting up the tent nearly laid out Bossman and we were both miserable and exhausted by Tuesday evening. The back was loaded differently than we'd tried in the past and a solid wall of wooden furniture fell on Bossman's outstretched arms - it cut one forearm up pretty badly along with that hand but luckily nothing was actually broken. He had bruises and contusions the whole event and all the way home though. Tree, my DM for next year, scolded me about us struggling so much and instructed me to call for him and "a crew" to come help us set up next year. I tried to demur but he pointed out that there was a staff member who expected their tent to be set up for them every year "for the last decade" and that "they certainly didn't actually need the help, while you guys do - and you work twice as hard as they do, so you will call me when you drive on site and wait for us to get there to help you unload and set up."
Alrighty then! To tell the truth, I am relieved. We were so tired and woebegone that it was almost five days before we finally got the interior of the tent arranged. We just couldn't bring ourselves to care enough to move out of our chairs and we hit our beds every night at dusk, just about. We were too tired to cook dinner. We pretty much lived on sandwiches and meals bought from the food court. Pack out was a slog and fraught with an explosive temper on Bossman's behalf. I thought the person who was helping him was going to walk out - and they would have had every right to do so. They quietly suggested that I try to hire a few more people to help pack up, and that we consider changing what we bring in order to make it easier for us to pack up. I agreed, and asked for suggestions. The upshot is that we are trimming down what we bring, substituting modern lightweight replacements for our period wooden furniture and we got a contract to sell the pavilion to a camp member after the War is over. It won't go back into our truck, he'll take it home with him after tear down. It is a bittersweet thing.
And I threw away, in disgust, the brand-new Igloo cooler that I had newly purchased for Pennsic. Dratted Piece of Shi--- Garbage! It was supposed to be a four-day cooler but it went through 30lbs of ice in half a day, the piece of trash. We bled out money for ice at an alarming rate. I was so angry that on the way home, while we were in the hills of Pennsylvania and only got spotty cell reception, I went on Amazon and bought an electric cooler! A friend recommended the one their camp used by way of a solar charge, said that it drew very little electricity and worked like a champ. So I bought one. I kind of regret that I bought the size that I did. I think I should have opted for the slightly larger one, but it's done now and we've already tested it here at home. I haven't tested it in hot weather conditions yet though. I should do that while the heat is still high.
* I just remembered this. I had a meeting with my staff before we did training and I told them how much I appreciated them coming in, burning more of their vacation time just to work like crazy people, and then told them that I respected them, they were all adults who were in control of their lives, and if anyone should attempt to get in their face or insult them, they had every right to respond to that any way they would normally and I would back them up. Assuming they didn't get physical, that is. "Throwing a punch is Right Out." That got a laugh and I saw a lot of shoulders relax. And then someone said, "We all know who she is talking about, don't we?" and the whole crowd, just about, laughed. It was funny but also so very sad.
I had a great team. I'm inviting all of them to come back next year and all of them said they would, barring real life problems.
On land grab day my DM could not be any nicer, more tentative in her behavior, or bend over backwards any further. She asked permission to enter the Troll Booth. She asked if I minded if she worked at the head of the line as a Greeter, and "of course I could tell her to move on if things got too hectic." I had torqued my back on Tuesday night walking to the portojohn (And fell in the soaking grass and had to crawl across that in my nightgown to reach a trailer so I could use its hitch to pull myself up off the ground. I was a sobby baby there for a little while. And why couldn't I have fallen after I had taken care of business? Huh? What is with that?) She gave me a ride to the booth and my camp every day; pleasant, cheerful, supportive. I swear to gawd, I was sure there was a pod buried somewhere on the grounds, but no - it turned out that the Mayor, and then separately her Peer, both had a talk with her about attitude and the handling of volunteers. She couldn't have been a better Deputy Mayor this year. For me anyway. I heard from other departments that things were not going so well there. There were complaints to the upcoming Mayor and some other staff members. The upshot was that she was informed that while she could be on staff next year, it would not be in any job that had her in charge of any volunteer. They offered her a brand-new position and I swear, I was jealous. It isn't a done deal yet so I can't say what the job is, but I would jump on it in a heartbeat and so would Arni. It is so very needed. (Budgetary negotiations may preclude the job but we'll see. I do think it is a necessary thing given how big Pennsic has become.) *
Our camping situation sucked. We did not get asked to move the tent to a different spot/orientation this year as we had in the past. I appreciated that and think it might have been due to everyone's awareness that we're only going to be in that spot until next year and then it will open up. But unloading the truck and setting up the tent nearly laid out Bossman and we were both miserable and exhausted by Tuesday evening. The back was loaded differently than we'd tried in the past and a solid wall of wooden furniture fell on Bossman's outstretched arms - it cut one forearm up pretty badly along with that hand but luckily nothing was actually broken. He had bruises and contusions the whole event and all the way home though. Tree, my DM for next year, scolded me about us struggling so much and instructed me to call for him and "a crew" to come help us set up next year. I tried to demur but he pointed out that there was a staff member who expected their tent to be set up for them every year "for the last decade" and that "they certainly didn't actually need the help, while you guys do - and you work twice as hard as they do, so you will call me when you drive on site and wait for us to get there to help you unload and set up."
Alrighty then! To tell the truth, I am relieved. We were so tired and woebegone that it was almost five days before we finally got the interior of the tent arranged. We just couldn't bring ourselves to care enough to move out of our chairs and we hit our beds every night at dusk, just about. We were too tired to cook dinner. We pretty much lived on sandwiches and meals bought from the food court. Pack out was a slog and fraught with an explosive temper on Bossman's behalf. I thought the person who was helping him was going to walk out - and they would have had every right to do so. They quietly suggested that I try to hire a few more people to help pack up, and that we consider changing what we bring in order to make it easier for us to pack up. I agreed, and asked for suggestions. The upshot is that we are trimming down what we bring, substituting modern lightweight replacements for our period wooden furniture and we got a contract to sell the pavilion to a camp member after the War is over. It won't go back into our truck, he'll take it home with him after tear down. It is a bittersweet thing.
And I threw away, in disgust, the brand-new Igloo cooler that I had newly purchased for Pennsic. Dratted Piece of Shi--- Garbage! It was supposed to be a four-day cooler but it went through 30lbs of ice in half a day, the piece of trash. We bled out money for ice at an alarming rate. I was so angry that on the way home, while we were in the hills of Pennsylvania and only got spotty cell reception, I went on Amazon and bought an electric cooler! A friend recommended the one their camp used by way of a solar charge, said that it drew very little electricity and worked like a champ. So I bought one. I kind of regret that I bought the size that I did. I think I should have opted for the slightly larger one, but it's done now and we've already tested it here at home. I haven't tested it in hot weather conditions yet though. I should do that while the heat is still high.
* I just remembered this. I had a meeting with my staff before we did training and I told them how much I appreciated them coming in, burning more of their vacation time just to work like crazy people, and then told them that I respected them, they were all adults who were in control of their lives, and if anyone should attempt to get in their face or insult them, they had every right to respond to that any way they would normally and I would back them up. Assuming they didn't get physical, that is. "Throwing a punch is Right Out." That got a laugh and I saw a lot of shoulders relax. And then someone said, "We all know who she is talking about, don't we?" and the whole crowd, just about, laughed. It was funny but also so very sad.
I had a great team. I'm inviting all of them to come back next year and all of them said they would, barring real life problems.
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Downsizing made my life a lot more comfortable. Less stuff to be responsible for, less stuff to consider and maintain.
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Thought I would have a helper but he was in another camp so was available for helping Kendrick set up the camp but that was it. Next year will be different, have to have someone to help me set up and break down the Book Wagon. Plus no more 9 am to 9-10 pm hours. 9 am to 7 or 8 pm. Used to pride myself that I was open after alot of other folks closed.
Both of us need to play, enjoy Pennsic more. There is such a thing as volunteering/working too hard. I was happy to see you at Pennsic and even happier I will see you next year at Pennsic.