More Details – Part Two

Okay, here’s the rest of the list . . .

 

7.   Sometimes famous people are the biggest jerks you’ll ever meet – The headliner for Saturday’s concert arrived sometime during the night/early morning hours . . . after the big rainstorm.  The tour bus promptly got stuck in the mud.  A Big Tow Truck was already at the lake to pull out another truck that had gotten stuck in the mud and the Tour Manager asked the Tow Truck Driver to pull him out.  Only problem was, the Famous Guy didn’t want to pay the fee for the Big Tow Truck to do the work.  Because it was for Famous Guy, Tow Truck Driver reduced his price . . . and the Famous Guy STILL didn’t want to pay the price.  So Tow Truck Driver did it for free, since he was there for another customer anyway.  Funny part was, the Bus Driver got the bus stuck a second time and the Tow Truck Driver laughed when they asked for a second freebie. 

 

8.   I always get chills whenever I see a Marine or a Sailor in full dress uniform.  As part of the entertainment on Saturday night, one of the acts did a tribute to servicemen and women.  There were a bunch of Sailors and Marines in full dress uniform at the concert.  It gave me chills to see them walking down the midway.  I was amazed at how the Sailors managed to keep their dress white uniforms clean. 

 

9.   Always wear sunscreen.  And a hat.  I didn’t and I paid the price.  Arms, nose, neck legs (I wore shorts) all got sunburned.  And the hat . . . it would have helped me from getting a sunburn on my scalp.  Yea, it’s as painful as it sounds. 

 

10.  It must be an unwritten law somewhere that every Southern Rock Band in American has to play “Sweet Home Alabama”.  This is a law that must be repealed . . . immediately.  In between the Big Name Acts, the Local Acts performed.  Some of them were very good.  Some of them were not.  One guy was so bad that he never finished a song.  Then there were the “Sweet Home Alabama” versions.  By every single band.  And they were all bad.  That is one of my all time favorite songs and I was so excited when I heard the opening notes . . . only to be very disappointed when they started singing.  By the end of the day Saturday it was just painful to listen to.   

 

11. Speaking of laws . . . it should be against the law to wear spandex shorts and belly shirts after the age of 30,  sundresses and cowboy boots at any age, or to have your bra straps showing on purpose.  I did a lot of people watching – it was fun.  But I saw some seriously distressing fashion trends.  Spandex and belly shirts on ladies that were more than a tad overweight and on the “other” side of 40.  I saw more bra straps than I care to mention.  Is it the fashion trend to wear a racer back tank top and a regular bra?  Aren’t you supposed to hide your bra strap or is that a hang over from the repressed 1900′s?  But the funniest thing I saw were the young girls in their sundresses and cowboy boots.  I just don’t get it . . . and I admit that I laughed out loud the first time I saw it.  But then these girls were everywhere so I’m guessing this is normal?  Maybe I need to get out more. 

 

12.  I have a lot to learn about professional fishing.  Up until this weekend, I never realized that you could make a career of being a fisherman.  There were a half dozen of the pros at this event doing demonstrations and people were begging to go out fishing with them.  They make a living fishing.  What a concept.   

 

13.  I love seeing Hubby’s eyes light up whenever he talks to someone about fixing fishing rods.  We took his equipment with us so he could work on the fishing rods during the expo.  We had people hanging out in the booth just to watch.  Hubby was really in his element explaining what he did and the techniques he used to fix the fishing pole.  And the people he talked to were just as excited to talk to him as he was to talk to them.  I sat in the corner and watched.  It was exciting to watch Hubby share his love of fishing with so many people . . . and to hear the feedback that he got from the visitors to our booth.  I have a feeling he’s really found his niche . .

 

It was such an overall good experience for us – and the business – that we’re looking at other expos to attend.  The Little Business might not be so little for very long! 

More Details – Part Two

Okay, here’s the rest of the list . . .

 

7.   Sometimes famous people are the biggest jerks you’ll ever meet – The headliner for Saturday’s concert arrived sometime during the night/early morning hours . . . after the big rainstorm.  The tour bus promptly got stuck in the mud.  A Big Tow Truck was already at the lake to pull out another truck that had gotten stuck in the mud and the Tour Manager asked the Tow Truck Driver to pull him out.  Only problem was, the Famous Guy didn’t want to pay the fee for the Big Tow Truck to do the work.  Because it was for Famous Guy, Tow Truck Driver reduced his price . . . and the Famous Guy STILL didn’t want to pay the price.  So Tow Truck Driver did it for free, since he was there for another customer anyway.  Funny part was, the Bus Driver got the bus stuck a second time and the Tow Truck Driver laughed when they asked for a second freebie. 

 

8.   I always get chills whenever I see a Marine or a Sailor in full dress uniform.  As part of the entertainment on Saturday night, one of the acts did a tribute to servicemen and women.  There were a bunch of Sailors and Marines in full dress uniform at the concert.  It gave me chills to see them walking down the midway.  I was amazed at how the Sailors managed to keep their dress white uniforms clean. 

 

9.   Always wear sunscreen.  And a hat.  I didn’t and I paid the price.  Arms, nose, neck legs (I wore shorts) all got sunburned.  And the hat . . . it would have helped me from getting a sunburn on my scalp.  Yea, it’s as painful as it sounds. 

 

10.  It must be an unwritten law somewhere that every Southern Rock Band in American has to play "Sweet Home Alabama".  This is a law that must be repealed . . . immediately.  In between the Big Name Acts, the Local Acts performed.  Some of them were very good.  Some of them were not.  One guy was so bad that he never finished a song.  Then there were the "Sweet Home Alabama" versions.  By every single band.  And they were all bad.  That is one of my all time favorite songs and I was so excited when I heard the opening notes . . . only to be very disappointed when they started singing.  By the end of the day Saturday it was just painful to listen to.   

 

11. Speaking of laws . . . it should be against the law to wear spandex shorts and belly shirts after the age of 30,  sundresses and cowboy boots at any age, or to have your bra straps showing on purpose.  I did a lot of people watching – it was fun.  But I saw some seriously distressing fashion trends.  Spandex and belly shirts on ladies that were more than a tad overweight and on the "other" side of 40.  I saw more bra straps than I care to mention.  Is it the fashion trend to wear a racer back tank top and a regular bra?  Aren’t you supposed to hide your bra strap or is that a hang over from the repressed 1900′s?  But the funniest thing I saw were the young girls in their sundresses and cowboy boots.  I just don’t get it . . . and I admit that I laughed out loud the first time I saw it.  But then these girls were everywhere so I’m guessing this is normal?  Maybe I need to get out more. 

 

12.  I have a lot to learn about professional fishing.  Up until this weekend, I never realized that you could make a career of being a fisherman.  There were a half dozen of the pros at this event doing demonstrations and people were begging to go out fishing with them.  They make a living fishing.  What a concept.   

 

13.  I love seeing Hubby’s eyes light up whenever he talks to someone about fixing fishing rods.  We took his equipment with us so he could work on the fishing rods during the expo.  We had people hanging out in the booth just to watch.  Hubby was really in his element explaining what he did and the techniques he used to fix the fishing pole.  And the people he talked to were just as excited to talk to him as he was to talk to them.  I sat in the corner and watched.  It was exciting to watch Hubby share his love of fishing with so many people . . . and to hear the feedback that he got from the visitors to our booth.  I have a feeling he’s really found his niche . .

 

It was such an overall good experience for us – and the business – that we’re looking at other expos to attend.  The Little Business might not be so little for very long! 

More Details – Part One

I promised more detail on the Rei Lakes event . . . get ready for Part One

 

1.  Sunshine and alcohol are never a good combination. . . but it makes for some interesting people watching.  It was a beautiful summer weekend.  That is after the rain on Friday.  Lots of sun and warm weather.  There were also a lot of beer vendors at the event.  Of course, there were some people who overindulged.  For instance, the gentleman with no shirt, jean shorts, and a cowboy hat that was dancing up the midway while listening to the bands on Saturday afternoon.  The most interesting part of his attire was the fact that he was wearing white tube socks – and no shoes.  No, I’m not kidding.  

2.   Famous people don’t always look like famous people.  On Sunday morning, Hubby and his BFF were people watching after they set up the booth for the day.  A scruffy looking guy on a cell phone walked by on his way to the stage area.  Hubby said the guy looked like he hadn’t washing his shorts in six months and that he spilled most of his breakfast on his T-shirt.  Right after Scruffy Guy walked by, the organizer of the event walked up to Hubby and asked if they had introduced themselves to John Michael Montgomery (the headliner for that day’s concert).  Hubby said that he would if he saw him . . . turns out Scruffy Guy was John Michael Montgomery.  No, Hubby’s not a big country music fan. 

3.   The Dog Mobile doesn’t have 4 wheel drive, but it sure can drive through some mud.  After the rain on Friday, the pathways at the lake were muddy and had some nice potholes in them.  I had to drive around the lakes to get to the parking area.  As long as I was careful and didn’t go too fast over the potholes, I was able to navigate around nicely.  Of course the Dog Mobile got a little muddy.  Okay, she’s very muddy.  We have to hose her off this weekend. 

 

4.   If you have a 4 wheel drive vehicle and you don’t want to drive through the mud, why did you drive a 4 wheel drive vehicle in the first place.  I had to make several trips back and forth from the lake – to check on the dogs, to get stuff Hubby needed – so the little dog mobile looks like I spent the whole weekend muddin’ (it’s term we use when you go four wheelin’ through the mud and the mud gets caked all over your vehicle).  On one of the trips, I got behind a true 4 wheel drive Ford Explorer.  This this was pristine – not a drop of mud or dust on it.  He went 5 miles per hour and deliberately went out of his way to make sure he wouldn’t get mud on his vehicle.  At one point he even pulled off the road and stopped so that an oncoming car wouldn’t splash him.  Curse and swear, curse and swear, filth foul and blackguard.  If it weren’t for the fact that we were between two of the lakes, I would have passed him and gone on my way.  Heck, I saw a guy in a low rider Honda Civic go faster than that Explorer.  Heck, he went even faster than I was going and I was at least being careful of the potholes!  Oh, and Yuppie Explorer guy parked as far away from all the other vehicles as he could. 

 

5.   The best food in the world is fair food.  Oh, the wonderful things we ate!  A Philly Cheesesteak sandwich that we had to eat with a fork it was so big.  Yummy soft serve ice cream.  The best sweet tea I’ve ever had - and it’s hard to find good sweet tea out some where.  Oh, and the fries.  Good old fashioned home made fair fries.  Ummm mmmm mmmm.  

 

6.   Sometimes famous people are the nicest people you’ll ever meet.  I met Joe Thomas at the event.  He’s a pro fisherman and he was at the expo doing a fishing demonstration and signing autographs.  Even though Hubby has a fishing rod repair business, I really don’t know alot about pro fisherman so I had no idea how famous these pro fishermen were.  I was out on Friday afternoon getting people signed up for the drawing Hubby was having for a fishing rod and reel combo.  I approached the booth where Joe Thomas was and asked if they wanted to enter the drawing. Joe said that he had plenty of rods but thanked me for asking.  It wasn’t until later that I learned who he was and that he gets a lot of free rods from his sponsors – and he would have felt bad winning one from us when there were so many other people there who would love to win our contest.  I thought that was pretty cool.  Oh, and he didn’t have that “Don’t you know who I am?” attitude. 

 

Stay tuned for Part Two . . .

More Details – Part One

I promised more detail on the Rei Lakes event . . . get ready for Part One

 

1.  Sunshine and alcohol are never a good combination. . . but it makes for some interesting people watching.  It was a beautiful summer weekend.  That is after the rain on Friday.  Lots of sun and warm weather.  There were also a lot of beer vendors at the event.  Of course, there were some people who overindulged.  For instance, the gentleman with no shirt, jean shorts, and a cowboy hat that was dancing up the midway while listening to the bands on Saturday afternoon.  The most interesting part of his attire was the fact that he was wearing white tube socks – and no shoes.  No, I’m not kidding.  

2.   Famous people don’t always look like famous people.  On Sunday morning, Hubby and his BFF were people watching after they set up the booth for the day.  A scruffy looking guy on a cell phone walked by on his way to the stage area.  Hubby said the guy looked like he hadn’t washing his shorts in six months and that he spilled most of his breakfast on his T-shirt.  Right after Scruffy Guy walked by, the organizer of the event walked up to Hubby and asked if they had introduced themselves to John Michael Montgomery (the headliner for that day’s concert).  Hubby said that he would if he saw him . . . turns out Scruffy Guy was John Michael Montgomery.  No, Hubby’s not a big country music fan. 

3.   The Dog Mobile doesn’t have 4 wheel drive, but it sure can drive through some mud.  After the rain on Friday, the pathways at the lake were muddy and had some nice potholes in them.  I had to drive around the lakes to get to the parking area.  As long as I was careful and didn’t go too fast over the potholes, I was able to navigate around nicely.  Of course the Dog Mobile got a little muddy.  Okay, she’s very muddy.  We have to

 

4.   If you have a 4 wheel drive vehicle and you don’t want to drive through the mud, why did you drive a 4 wheel drive vehicle in the first place.  I had to make several trips back and forth from the lake – to check on the dogs, to get stuff Hubby needed – so the little dog mobile looks like I spent the whole weekend muddin’ (it’s term we use when you go four wheelin’ through the mud and the mud gets caked all over your vehicle).  On one of the trips, I got behind a true 4 wheel drive Ford Explorer.  This this was pristine – not a drop of mud or dust on it.  He went 5 miles per hour and deliberately went out of his way to make sure he wouldn’t get mud on his vehicle.  At one point he even pulled off the road and stopped so that an oncoming car wouldn’t splash him.  Curse and swear, curse and swear, filth foul and blackguard.  If it weren’t for the fact that we were between two of the lakes, I would have passed him and gone on my way.  Heck, I saw a guy in a low rider Honda Civic go faster than that Explorer.  Heck, he went even faster than I was going and I was at least being careful of the potholes!  Oh, and Yuppie Explorer guy parked as far away from all the other vehicles as he could. 

 

5.   The best food in the world is fair food.  Oh, the wonderful things we ate!  A Philly Cheesesteak sandwich that we had to eat with a fork it was so big.  Yummy soft serve ice cream.  The best sweet tea I’ve ever had - and it’s hard to find good sweet tea out some where.  Oh, and the fries.  Good old fashioned home made fair fries.  Ummm mmmm mmmm.  

 

6.   Sometimes famous people are the nicest people you’ll ever meet.  I met Joe Thomas at the event.  He’s a pro fisherman and he was at the expo doing a fishing demonstration and signing autographs.  Even though Hubby has a fishing rod repair business, I really don’t know alot about pro fisherman so I had no idea how famous these pro fishermen were.  I was out on Friday afternoon getting people signed up for the drawing Hubby was having for a fishing rod and reel combo.  I approached the booth where Joe Thomas was and asked if they wanted to enter the drawing. Joe said that he had plenty of rods but thanked me for asking.  It wasn’t until later that I learned who he was and that he gets a lot of free rods from his sponsors – and he would have felt bad winning one from us when there were so many other people there who would love to win our contest.  I thought that was pretty cool.  Oh, and he didn’t have that "Don’t you know who I am?" attitude. 

 

Stay tuned for Part Two . . .

And Now For Something Completely Different

 

Remember the interview I went on a couple of weeks ago?  I got the news today that I got the job.  In a little less than two weeks from now, I’ll be starting my new job.  This time the job is in the health care field.  So now my resume includes work in the mortgage banking industry, credit insurance, small leather goods manufacturing, machine tool sales, environmental law, and insurance.  Even though it looks a little odd written down, the one constant throughout the different jobs is that it is all administrative stuff.  Secretarial work is secretarial work no matter what industry you’re in.  I guess Mom was right . . . as long as you have a strong set of basic secretarial skills, you’ll never have to worry about finding a job.  But that’s a story for another day. 

 

The new job is for the executive assistant to the medical director of one of the divisions of the local hospital here.  I won’t go into a lot of details except to say that it does sound interesting and challenging, but after what I’ve faced at Large Insurance Firm this new job should be a piece of cake.  The best part is that it’s seven minutes from my house.  Excuse me while I do a happy dance.  Yes, that’s seven minutes . . . which is approximately the length of time it takes for me to walk from the parking garage to my desk.  My commute is 45 minutes each way.  That’s 1 hour and 30 minutes in the car each day.  After making the big commute for almost nine years, I can’t even begin to tell you how exciting it is to think about a 15 minute round trip commute time.  I can come home and let the dogs out at lunch.  I can make a doctor’s appointment and I won’t have to take a half-day off to get it done.  If the dogs get sick and need to go to the vet, I can do that. 

 

So I agreed to work at Large Insurance Firm through the move to the new building.  I’m either a devoted employee or a total idiot.  The move is June 27, 28, and 29.  The first day in the new space is June 30.  I start the new job July 1.  My current boss is very happy that I’m sticking around to help with the move.  She understands that I need to do what’s best for me and she understands why I would want to take a job so close to my house.  I have not had a chance to have a serious heart-to-heart talk with her about my current job, but I do intend to let her know how overwhelmed and miserable I was in this position.  I don’t know if my speaking up with make any changes in the current position, but at least I will know that I did what I could to make it a little easier for the next person.  No, she didn’t make a counter offer to make me stay.  I think she knew that it would be pointless to do that.  There’s no amount of money that can make me give up on my dream of working in My Little Town again.  I think she also knew that I am frustrated beyond belief with my current position.

 

I’m very excited about the new job.  The people are very friendly and it appears to be a great place to work.  Two ladies that work in the office where I will be were recruited away by promises of big money but came back because of the atmosphere at Small Regional Hospital.  That says a lot . . .

 

 

 

 

Thirteen Things – Rei Lakes

The fishing expo/country concert is over.  Hubby survived, but man is he tired.  He did more networking today.  Another one of the pro fishermen offered to hand out business cards for Hubby.  That’s three boxes of business cards that we’ve handed out to different guys to hand out for us.  

 

In honor of the three day event . . . here’s a Thirteen Things summary of the event . . .

1.  Sunshine and alcohol are never a good combination. . . but it makes for some interesting people watching.    
2. Famous people don’t always look like famous people.
3. The Dog Mobile doesn’t have 4 wheel drive, but it sure can drive through some mud.
4. If you have a 4 wheel drive vehicle and you don’t want to drive through the mud, why did you drive a 4 wheel drive vehicle in the first place.
5. The best food in the world is fair food. 
6. Sometimes famous people are the nicest people you’ll ever meet. . .
7. And sometimes they’re the biggest jerks you’ll ever meet.
8. I always get chills whenever I see a Marine or a Sailor in full dress uniform. 
9. Always wear sunscreen.  And a hat.
10. It must be an unwritten law somewhere that every Southern Rock Band in American has to play “Sweet Home Alabama”.  This is a law that must be repealed . . . immediately.
11. Speaking of laws . . . it should be against the law to wear spandex shorts and belly shirts after the age of 30,  sundresses and cowboy boots at any age, or to have your bra straps showing on purpose.
12. I have a lot to learn about professional fishing.  Up until this weekend, I never realized that you could make a career of being a fisherman. 
13. I love seeing Hubby’s eyes light up whenever he talks to someone about fixing fishing rods. 

 Believe me, there are a ton of interesting stories about this weekend.  And I can’t wait to share them. 

 

 

 

Thirteen Things – Rei Lakes

 

The fishing expo/country concert is over.  Hubby survived, but man is he tired.  He did more networking today.  Met another one of the Pro fishermen and the pro fisherman will be handing out business cards for Hubby.  That’s three boxes of business cards that we’ve handed out to different guys to hand out for us.  

 

In honor of the three day event . . . here’s a Thirteen Things summary of the event . . .

 

1.   Sunshine and alcohol are never a good combination. . . but it makes for some interesting people watching.    

2.   Famous people don’t always look like famous people.

3.   The Dog Mobile doesn’t have 4 wheel drive, but it sure can drive through some mud.

4.   If you have a 4 wheel drive vehicle and you don’t want to drive through the mud, why did you drive a 4 wheel drive vehicle in the first place.

5.   The best food in the world is fair food. 

6.   Sometimes famous people are the nicest people you’ll ever meet. . .

7.   And sometimes they’re the biggest jerks you’ll ever meet.

8.   I always get chills whenever I see a Marine or a Sailor in full dress uniform. 

9.   Always wear sunscreen.  And a hat.

10.  It must be an unwritten law somewhere that every Southern Rock Band in American has to play "Sweet Home Alabama".  This is a law that must be repealed . . . immediately.

11. Speaking of laws . . . it should be against the law to wear spandex shorts and belly shirts after the age of 30,  sundresses and cowboy boots at any age, or to have your bra straps showing on purpose.

12.  I have a lot to learn about professional fishing.  Up until this weekend, I never realized that you could make a career of being a fisherman. 

13.  I love seeing Hubby’s eyes light up whenever he talks to someone about fixing fishing rods. 

 

Believe me, there are a ton of interesting stories to tell about the event this weekend . . .

 

 

 

Rei Lakes

 

Hubby and I are at a fishing expo promoting his fishing rod repair business.  I thought it was going to be a boring weekend, but I’m actually having alot of fun.  It doesn’t seem like work.

 

It rained yesterday and that put a big damper on things.  Today started off cloudy but ended up being a beautiful day.  I have the sunburn to prove it.  Tomorrow is supposed to be beautiful too but I won’t be there because I’ll be with my Dad and family celebrating Father’s Day.  Hubby and his BFF are going to work the expo tomorrow.

 

I have lots of interesting stuff to write about concerning the expo.  I’ll be putting it together next week. 

 

 

 

Rei Lakes

It’s been a long day . . . Hubby and I are at a fishing expo at a local pay lake.  We’re there promoting Hubby’s fishing rod repair business.  It’s a three day event billed as a country concert/fishing expo.  Today was the first day and the event is off to a slow start.  Just when we thought the event was going to take off – the rain started and the event ended for the day. 

So much for the big concert tonight with T. G. Sheppard.  

At least we promoted the business with some of the other vendors at the event.  One of the vendors is a big box sporting goods store that’s new to the area.  They are looking for someone to repair rods that customers bring in to the store.  The other vendor runs fishing tours out of a city close to us and is always looking for someone to fix customer’s fishing rods. 

There are stars from ESPN and The Outdoor Channel at the event.  I’m going to give them some business cards tomorrow.  I got to meet Joe Thomas from The Outdoor Channel.  I have no idea who the guy is, but the other vendors told me he was famous. 

I’ve done trade shows before for some of my other jobs, and I’ve always thought they were very boring.  But this time I had a lot of fun.  Could it be because it’s our business and not “just a job”?  We’re giving away a rod and reel combo and I was out today giving away tickets to the drawing and telling everybody about the business and I met a lot of cool people.  And I gathered a lot of cool giveaway items.  Most of the vendors said that they would enter my drawing if I would enter theirs. 

While I’m out doing marketing stuff, Hubby is working on fixing some fishing rods.  Believe it or not, we have people dropping off rods to be repaired!  And Hubby is able to fix them there at the expo.  He took his workbench and his supplies with him.  Thankfully our neighbor at this event has a portable generator that we can borrow . . .

One day down . . . two days to go . . . hopefully the weather will be nicer tomorrow and Sunday . . .

Just Starting Out

Well, here we are with a new blog home.  Let’s see if I like this place better than Spaces.  So far, so good.  Oh, and I can upload pictures. 

Yea, that’s Luci in the header.  I think she was about 8 or 9 weeks old at the time.  It was one of the first pictures I took of her.  The purple elephant she’s laying on was her favorite toy.  At the time, it was as big as her.  She carried that thing around everywhere she went.  It eventually fell apart and I had to throw it away.