Making it thrugh another year, '24-'25

[Nebraska]

Now make some little kids sized ones for a backyard fire pit. Mom/Dad etc.  good s'more making chairs. 

[doc henderson]

Sorry Tom.  The man loved it, but the wife said no.  Does that help?  

[Old Greenhorn]

OH, got it, I missed that. The wife didn't really have an opinion and the guy bought it of course. But I do get a big kick and a smile of of teaching somebody something about the stuff they buy and as Resonator said, that 'story' can make it more valuable to them.
 Pat, I guess I can make them if folks buy them, but they don't nest or fit in the trailer very well and for an adult size I would need some big rounds to fit those big bottoms.  I just find it funny, because I do ZERO cleanup work and they are as rough as can be with mismatched cuts, etc. I work with the firewood I have. I always cut those from short logs I stand on end. It would be tricky to do it on a horizontal log, but I could try to cut one or two off a 24' sawlog and see what happens. What could go wrong?

[doc henderson]

He walked away with his wife and was saying "that is just AMAZING, what goes on inside these trees is amazing. Can you imagine?! This stool is SO cool!"

I thought you meant you spent the time and he just walked away without buying it.  at the end you say "this stool" so I see he must have it with him.  It was in the paragraph that started "I continue to be baffled by these shoppers" so I thought you meant he was so interested but did not buy it.

[Old Greenhorn]

yeah, I guess that could be read either way, sorry. All vendors have heard hundreds of comments from buyer's that don't buy anything. When I did tool shows some folks would keep you tied up with dozens of detailed and demanding questions while out of the corner of your eye you could see a lot of potential buyers come and go through your booth while you were tied up and then the guy with all the hard questions would walk on out anyway. Tire kickers, we called them.
 No this fella we are talking about knew he was buying a stool, but didn't know which one, he just wanted one, and probably the funniest thing to me was he had no idea what he would do with it or put it.  So I gave him a long list of what previous happy buyers used theirs for. I have no idea what he will do with it.  But yeah, he left with it, cradled under his arm like a new baby.

[aigheadish]

I shop at the flea market that way a lot. I go and see something I really like and get it, the seller often says "What are you going to do with that?" My response is often "oh shucks, I don't know, but I'll find something" much to my non-hoarder wife's chagrin... Luckily, I don't spend more than 20 bucks on such things.

[Old Greenhorn]

Funny thing was, he didn't seem to care at all about the cost. My flat stools with commercial HM turned legs I price at $30 and the rustic ones with my octagonal legs I price at $45. He kept going from one to the other. It was all about appearance, grain, and figure.

[Old Greenhorn]

Changing gears today. I have to pretty much drop the business stuff for a bit and focus on the family reunion in VT, followed by GF up in Greene County immediately after. Normally I start collecting my stuff for these events slowly about 2 weeks before, just a few minutes every day or two as I think of something. Eventually it all comes together in time and frankly I am looking very much forward to these things and get at it early and with enthusiasm. This year, it feels like more chores to do.
 But this morning, it was the order of the day and knowing it would get HOT, I headed out around 9am and hit the bank to make deposits and then head to town for beer, cigs, water, snacks, etc on the first shopping run. That's when I noticed it: We are officially in Tourist Season. [GROAN]
 Now when it's Deer season, we can shoot deer, and when it's turkey season we can shoot Turkey's, but for some reason, that logic does NOT carry over to Tourist Season and I really don't understand that at all. We obviously have too many of them, some (many?) are nuisances to the general population, and the herd seems to be way too big. Selective culling would seem to be a good management technique to keep things manageable, but NO. Shooting them is really frowned upon by the authorities in spite of the fact that some of theses Tourists really need to be 'removed' just based on the exhibited behavior, they might even be rabid, who can tell? 
 So I had to go to the bank and pulled through the parking lot of this small strip type shopping center and past the food store. There was a van (NY plates) pulled over in the fire lane and as I came up the line this other van (NJ plates popped out right in front of me, the NY van flagged the NJ van and he pulled up to the side and they started chatting, oblivious to the guy he had cut off (me) waiting behind him, after a minute of this I pulled around him and went to the drive up tellers window. I sent my paperwork in, waited, it came back and as I pulled out about 5 minutes later, these vans then came around and blocked my exit. So I had to wait until they could exit the lot first. That's when I noticed it, they were all late model Chrysler Pacifica Vans, same year, and every one of them (8) had a different state's plate on it. NJ, NY, NM, NH, PA, MI and the rest I missed. All driving in a tight caravan style and would have nobody getting in between them. I followed them out, watched them cut off oncoming traffic on the road, and to the next intersection, they went west, I went east and just thought "Well that was weird". As I drove to town I noticed more out of state plates on the road than in state. This is Monday, so it means the tourists are here until labor day now. I had numerous near misses in town with folks not knowing where they were going and making last second changes with no warning (or signals). 
 On the way home, cruising in the left lane they compact car in front of me jams on his brakes for no reason and no signals, apparently he waited to make a left into a parking lot. 55mph to 30mph in 100' and I barely got around him without clipping him. I'll have to adjust my driving habits for the next few months and add in the Bozo factor. I'm used to it, but this year it came on all of a sudden. I think all these years with no harvest quota is beginning to add up and we really need to do some studies and maybe allow a selective hunt to see what the effects are. Lets get the biologists involved and be scientific. That seems reasonable, doesn't it?
==================
Anyway, I made it safely home and started my "Grey Fox pile" and my "reunion pile" in the shop. Some stuff will go from the reunion right to up GF, but GF needs a LOT more stuff like stoves, coolers, water, lanterns, and Tipi and tarps and just a truck and trailer load of 'stuff' for the long/hot week. The reunion is easier. I have to pack a trunk of clothes for GF and just a suitcase for the reunion. Some work clothes, barbeque clothes, a chainsaw (you never know) and a few tools. We go early to do a lot of prep work, like mowing and weed whacking and fetching tables, chairs, food, ice, whatever. It's gonna be a busy couple of weeks for me. I just hope this humidity subsides a little bit, although it's always better up on the Hill in VT.
 Tomoorw is another day and more packing will continue.

[Resonator]

It absolutely was firewood, but I thought as a joke, for those folks that say my stuff is too expensive, I would offer this as an alternative.

Some of my best successes have been things done as a "joke". 

[aigheadish]

I've tried to teach my just starting to drive kids that if you don't know where you are going and you are about to miss a turn, rather than mess up traffic behind you (and potentially cause an accident), just go on by and turn around when it's safe and easy (and predictable) to do so. I understand that that gets tricky sometimes in unfamiliar places but eek. 

[Old Greenhorn]

Well yesterday and today I am finally getting into the mindset of getting things ready, but the heat, as mentioned has really put a damper on it. Fortunately I am a 'man of lists' and have been developing my GF list for over a decade, so I print that spreadsheet out and work from that, it gets my head in the game quickly and I don't miss stuff. I only have to worry about stuff that 'is different' for this year. Since my new job this year is a one time deal (I think) I don't worry about it too much. Last year I was responsible for a 30 person crew doing a very difficult job. This year, I am pretty much a one man show just managing the VIP/Sponsor/Artist camping section. My job is to keep the general public from camping in the area, protect the privacy of the artists, and keep track of the artists campsites so they can be found when needed and make arrangements for their transportation to the 6 assorted stages for their scheduled performances. Easy peasey, but their are a few challenges of course. I am pretty much on my own and all alone 'out there', but I know that job because I have been helping the regular guy for 6 years now when he gets busy, so I know the job...mostly.
 Last night after sundown, I loaded the Mule onto the trailer, gassed it up and tied it down. I worked on 'the packing piles' off and on yesterday as the heat allowed. This morning I started earlier and filled in a bunch of missing little details added to the pile. I did my final shopping loop this morning picking up stuff I found on my list I was short of, batteries, certain food items, haircut, etc. I also gassed up the truck. Driving around I had a conference call with my 2 tent mates just to close out and confirm some details. We have done this many times and don't really need to discuss it much. I think this is 9 years for them, 12 for me. They drive up from KY on Tuesday. So I am doing pretty good on GF. 
 The reunion is much easier and at least I have some help from the wife on that (as well as instructions). I have to finish off my suitcase for that this evening and after dinner I will begin loading the truck over by the shop, then move it by the house for luggage and stuff. Hopefully out the door by 8:30am tomorrow, which will have us driving around Albany later in the rush hour and destinated in VT by 11am or so. The we get to join in the work.  Kind of sad that the TX contingent won't make it. They are taking care of their homes and businesses in the wake of the hurricane. No power is expected for them for a while and they want to be there when the grid comes back. We all get that. It is what it is.
 Anyway, it's going to be a long, hectic, busy 12 days ahead. I guess I'll see y'all on the other side.
 

[WV Sawmiller]

   I assume GF is Grey Fox list and not Girl Friend list. I had to study a while to figure what it was. (I hope I got it right. )

[Old Greenhorn]

Yes, you got that right. ain't got time for no girl friends and the wife would not approve anyway.

[Peter Drouin]

Good luck.

[aigheadish]

Safe travels Tom!

[Old Greenhorn]

Well, this may be a long one, even by my standards as I try to catch things up here. Fair warning.
Back on the 11th (which feels like a month ago now) we headed to VT with the usual truck load of stuff like canopies and tables, some food, etc. to use at the reunion. Spent that day and part of the next running around town picking up more tables, chairs, and canopies we borrowed from the Church, Masonic Hall, and neighbors. We got all that setup, did a bunch of other stuff and Saturday had a great reunion. Very relaxing and good to catch up with all. A nice surprise was a visit from a cousin who is now retired and living in Glasgow, Scotland.
 Sunday morning I was feeling the urge to move on to getting ready for GF, so I was up at 5:30 and we took down the remaining stuff slowly as folks showed up, had breakfast, and began their trips homeward. We did 3 separate runs returning stuff, but this time we grabbed a young buck or two to help and it went a lot easier and faster. Then I just had to clean the place we stayed in across the road and pack our stuff. We were on the road before noon and home by 3PM.
 SO, onto GF. I unloaded the reunion stuff and began loading the GF stuff from the house (clothes, bedding, etc.) then moved the truck over to the shop and loaded all the camping gear and heavy stuff. The tables and canopies from the reunion just stayed in the truck. Then I hitched up the trailer with the Mule and partially loaded the Mule bed. I went down my long spread sheet checklist and all seemed good. We had dinner, I got a shower, and went to bed.
 After loading the perishables and final items in the morning I was on the road by 8 Monday morning and only stopped for Ice, an egg sammich, and more coffee on the way up, arriving around 9am. The rest is all routine. Work and get as much done as you can until the heat takes you down, then rest for a bit, look for shade, and work some more.
 The forecast for the week was thunderstorms with heavy potential every afternoon, Mon.-Wed. Then cooler, partly cloudy (perfect weather for the rest of the weekend). Well we got some good wind Monday night and just a little rain. My plan was to only setup the Tipi and one table and canopy while I was alone, then when my 2 campmates arrived (Tuesday night) we would set the other canopy and table up. The weather should be better after they arrived anyway.
 Tuesday was the heaviest workday for me and I got just about all the of the Med Tent roughed out and loaded with the gear and pitched in on some other jobs. I took care of some administrative stuff for the med tent and my own area. But I watched that radar all day and there was some nasty stuff coming. I lowered my canopy down to its lowest setting, about 4' tall. (Hindsight is clear, I should have taken it down. I am an idiot.) I had a crew meeting to attend at 5:30 on the far end of the hayfield, and since I was with a new crew, I really had to be there. The storm was going to hit right about that time. I was chatting with a sponsor camped near me (James) and he volunteered to babysit my canopy through the event, which was huge and he did a heroic job. Just as I walked in the trailer where the meeting was going on, all heck broke loose. Heavy horizontal rain, winds around 30-40mph and a lot of climatological violence going on. I got sick to my stomach. That trailer was actually rocking like a boat at sea. Chairs and such flew past the windows (if I'm lying, I'm dyin').
 I rushed back to my camp when it abated and the wind died down to 20mph. Along the drive I saw that many of the canopies along vendor row were trashed, as were their booths. James was standing there in the midst of my totally destroyed EZ-Up with a very upset look on his face. He was really upset that he couldn't save it.
 Now I have seen a lot of trashed canopies in my time and I have NEVER seen one like this. Except for the legs, every single member in that unit was snapped in half. Every one. The cover was just fine, but there wasn't much left to fix. I nearly cried and knew my wife was gonna kill me (And yeah, she was pretty mad at first). To my shame, I was so shocked at just how destroyed it was that it took me a second to think about James and make sure he was OK, which he was, but he looked like a drowned rat. It was kind of amazing that he didn't get seriously hurt being out in that violence.
 Then I looked up at the Tipi. The wind had grabbed one of the smoke vent flaps, filled it like a sail, and tore a rip about a foot ling across the vent area. Now I was truly sick, given that I was responsible for that Tipi and carrying on it's legacy. Still quite usable for the weekend, but not fully functional. James and I managed to 'sort of, kind of' remove the cover from the canopy and fold it back up into sort of the normal shape and cinch it with a ratchet strap to keep it from spring open, what was left of it anyway. I had no idea what I was going to do with it, but at the least, I was going to strip it don for all those oddball screws and plastic parts before I scrapped all the busted parts (which turns out to be every part except the 4 legs). Those little parts are expensive and they all looked good, I think, so far.
 James went back to check his site (all fine, he had a tree buffer) and I tried to figure out what happened. Often during storms like this I will have several stakes pulled out around the bottom of the tipi, this time was different. They didn't pull out, they snapped, right at the half way point below ground. 4 of them, in a row, on one side. Between that info, James's description of how the canopy failed, where the rip was in the tipi, and eyewitness reports on scene (they saw a funnel cloud forming about 2 miles SW before the sky filled with water and wind. I figure either we got some twister winds or a microburst, either way, it was a dangerous storm and I am really glad James didn't get hurt because it could have been quite serious.
 I am standing there alone, feeling sorry for myself when I lifted my eyes and began to take in the other effects. We had about 20 porta potties across the field blown right over, including one 20' from my camp. Out of the 10 canopies they had just set up for the Bluegrass Academy 2 hours prior, 8 of those were destroyed. Across the road from me is a rental camp section and I have known both owners of that company for decades. They had about 45 tents set up, and every one of them had ripped rain flies, they lost the kids academy canopies and another 5 or 6 more in their rental sites. They took a huge financial hit in destroyed gear, but more important, they had to find a way to reset al those campsites for their renters coming in at 7am the next morning. They got to work right away, worked half the night and were back at it before the sun cleared the trees. By gate opening time they had repaired every fly and scabbed enough parts off broken canopies to fix 3/4 of the damaged ones and also replace some stuff with spare stock. The bigger issue for them is that when GF was done, they had to have all that gear down and packed by Sunday evening so they could get on the road to FloydFest in Virginia which will be the biggest job they have ever taken on. That show has to be fully setup by 7am Wednesday morning. When I checked in with them Monday morning they had fully packed on Sunday and were on the road by 4:30pm. By 9 am on Monday they were just pulling into Floyd fest. I don't know how they did it, but I do know their crew works harder than I can.
 We got some drizzles through Tuesday night, which leaked through the tear in the tipi, but no big deal. A little more rain on Wednesday evening, but not much, and after that we had the most perfect weather I think we have ever had during my 13 years at GF.
 Being stuck at Artist/Sponsor/VIP camping for the weekend (that was my 'job') meant I didn't catch a lot of shows, but I did catch all three sets my neighbors, Mike & Ruthy played so that was good. In many ways my job was much easier than in the past, but it did have it's moments here and there. I really do enjoy the 'first timers' that come and I can get them oriented and comfortable to find their way around and I answer a lot of questions and keep myself available when new questions come up. It's a lot like herding cats, truly.
 My campmates leave early (6am) on Sunday to make their 14 hour drive back to KY and I get to break it all down and pack up alone, but I was pretty much loaded by 10am, then I pitched in with other stuff, checked on the medical stuff but they had it all covered.
 For pre-fest I also served as the onsite EMT and usually only get work related boo-boo's, bumps and bruises and sometimes heat stuff. This year I only had two. One was a minor FDGB (Fall Down, Go Boom) that happened in front of me and the other appeared to be heat related. But I thought there might be something else going on so I checked on that guy regularly to make sure he was compliant with my guidance. He was doing what I suggested, but he wasn't passing my look test each time I saw him. He wasn't really improving the way I had hoped or expected and I felt there was something else going on so I kept checking even after I changed from EMS to VIP camping and I passed his history onto the regular EMS staff. Sure enough, I got a text Friday night that they had sent him off in an ambulance. The next afternoon I found out he was diagnosed with Kidney failure and would 'be there for a WHILE'. Then Sunday morning I learned that he had 'been using again' and betrayed his boss about it. This allowed all the pieces to fall into place for me and make better sense. I had felt like I missed something, and I did, because he lied to me. The good news is that he is responding well to treatment and I sure hope he can get himself clean again, for good. Nice fella otherwise and i hate to see what heavy drugs, especially meth can do to a human.
 So I left the site at just after 4pm Sunday, which is the earliest I ever remember. Usually it is around 8:30pm before I am done. I was home around 5 and pooped as usual, didn't even unhook the trailer. Dinner, a shower, and early to bed for me.
 Usually I take all of Monday and part of Tuesday to unload, clean up, and pack stuff away for next year. This time I really had to move it along because I have other stuff that is behind. First order was to order a new canopy (I need those for shows and losing one puts me in a bind. I had picked the brain of the rental camping owner, she knows ALL the players and I took their advice on the best maker with good spare parts, service, weight, and design, and looked at their models and got one on order in the morning. I tried to catch up on forum reading, but could only go back 10 pages in 'recent posts' and that took over an hour. I missed a lot. I had the unpacking half done by noon, but Bill called from a tree job he was on and had a little mushroom log wood. I have an order due this week, so I changed back to work clothes, quickly emptied the rest of the truck, threw some of my work gear in, and headed out and collected those logs (just 10) and stacked them at home. I need 10 more logs yet. I worked on the trashed easy up for a while and got it half done. I was still a bit tired. I did some business correspondence in the evening, have more to do today.
 So I need to finish cutting that order, clean up the shop from the GF gear, continue to think about how I am going to repair the tipi, send off some checks for shows and 'other things', decide if I am doing a show on Saturday or not (and how to do it with one canopy), get work started on my 2 custom orders, find and cut another tree or two to finish that order. Hopefully those logs get picked up by Monday, then there is the prep for the drive out to the Pig Roast next week. Gotta make the final selection on what we are bringing for door prizes too.
 I have almost 10 days at home to get this all done so that should work out.
Today is another day and I need to get at it.

[doc henderson]

Great catch-up Tom.  I did have to stop for a meal and use the restroom a few times, but now I am caught up.  It is good to be busy doing a combo of stuff you love, with stuff that you like that pays the bills.

[Resonator]

Good to hear you survived Grey Fox. Sounds like the storms we've had throughout the midwest this summer, high wind and inches of rain per hour, causing damage and flooding.

[SwampDonkey]

I have to save this read for the morning with my coffee in hand. Yup, I'm gonna read it. My eyes are too heavy right now and it's time for some nourishment as it's almost 5 pm up here and I've been on my feet since 4:30 am, just do'n stuff. 

[Old Greenhorn]

You gotta stop getting up at 3am.
 Don't get your hopes up on that read, it ain't Hemingway.  Just an old man documenting his declining years.  But it does have it's boring aspects, so there is that.
-----------------------
Not a bad day today. My log client and my laser vendor are non-responsive, but I did get a good amount of work done after that long and time consuming post (what, you think it's easy creating that drivel?)
 I moved around the remnants of my GF pile in the shop and set up my drum sander in the garage door and opened it. I had 4 pieces to run through. I had a rough cut curved RO bench slab (future build), a 3.5" pine slab for a custom order, a 1x12x 3' red pine piece for my GS's book shelf he wants to build, and the RO/Maple glued up top I wanted to re-flatten for the custom modification before cutting and re-finishing.
 I got all that done and was covered in sweat which held the sawdust against my body really well. Ears, eyes, hair, you name it. I gotta make a hood for that thing, works good, but holy cow, what dust!
 I got the top trimmed and also trimmed the skirt parts, got the new holes in it and the top and test fitted, then it was dinner time so I had to quit. I still need to cut the legs a bit shorter, then I can start re-finishing. I'll probably do the heavy shape sanding on the pine bench and do finishing all at once if I can, but maybe not.  I rarely know what I am going to do before I do it.
 At least I am making progress.

[SwampDonkey]

Well, that was quite a weather-wise ordeal to go through including the extra work. You're a tough old goat. 

[aigheadish]

Welcome home Tom, sounds like quite the storm, glad you and your helper are ok, even with some destruction of property... If it's any consolation my son destroyed a canopy without any inclement weather, just putting the thing up, they can certainly be a bit fragile. 

I hope the tipi mends well! 

[Old Greenhorn]

Well yesterday I finished taking the frame apart. Of the 16 X-Brace parts only 2 were re-usable as spares with slight bends. I saved the 4 legs, the center post, and those two X-brace pieces for spares on the other one or some other use down the road. The rest, a big bundle, goes to scrap. All the rest were permanently and heavily kinked or broken in half. This was a commercial grade unit we have used more than most would for 25 years. We took good care of it. I have seen many of the lighter weight ones (hundreds?) over the years get easily trashed at various events. I have a cheapy for utility stuff too. This was very unusual. The guy holding it down said it was fine and he had it, but when that big gust came from the south it just folded in the one side like it was hit by a car.
 All good, the new one SHOULD arrive by Friday if I can trust Fedex, and I think I have a show Saturday (application pending).
 The tipi will not mend itself, I have to figure that out myself and make it happen. Probably a few hours of hand stitching but I have to find some material that sort of matches for welting/gussets.
 We always get weather at GF and it's usually some rain. Some years it is extreme. One year we had about 4" of rain in 14 hours, just before the gates opened. We rented every high wheel 4WD tractor in a 5 town area with their operators and chained up every large RV right at the gate and assisted/dragged/towed them into their campsites. That prevented big mud wallows. When it began to dry we ran a box plow over all the camp 'roads' and smoothed them out very nicely, by Sunday everyone could drive out like nothing ever happened on nicely graded smooth roads. Last year on Sunday we had to drag a few out who could not follow instructions to drive with mud. One guy I pulled out no less than 4 times with my Mule and finally got behind his wheel and just drove him out. It ain't rocket surgery. They don't get much mud down in the city, I guess.  This festival is going on 40 years old and we have a 'plan B' for almost anything by now. When folks moan about the weather there I always point out that at least it isn't snowing and that usually ends the whining.
 Time to get back at it in the shop.

[Nebraska]

I have a local tent and awning business that sews tarps and covers etc, not far from here, but that doesn't do any good for you. Just wondering if there is such a place fairly close to you, a commercial sewing machine would be worth the trouble on a big tipi project.  Sorry for the storm trouble but it sounds like both of your trips were good. 

[SwampDonkey]

They make, sew/repair and rent tents about 30 miles from here. Again, no good to you down there. None near you?