I know Mark loves these.
Rained a lot yesterday. Enough to let me close the golf course for lack of play and swing over the the local renn faire which just started the annual run.
1- The main objective was to pick up amd pay for the belt i ordered to match those nifty R&C bracers i had made. I ordered it in 2019 and didn't want to leave Jim hanging on the sale.
- it's not done. 23 months later and he hasn't slapped a buckle on it or done the edge trim. He wasn't sure exactly how i wanted it. We have talked numerous times on the phone in between andhe forgot to ask or call to ask. Should be ready next week.
2-it rained a lot. Next to nobody there. Great for milling around and catching up. Except most of ky pals are not there in protest over the faire's misguided attempt to open last year.
3- fewer people means there was nobody to shed the drunk talky guy off on. His name is John and he always has a longwinded boring story about some personal problem. This year it was a badly broken wrist. 20 minutes into that story, he took a breath and said, "then i had to take a second trip to the doctor to see the x-ray results..."
-for the record, there are 9 doctor visits in the story. None of it is interesting. He fell down, broke a bone badly and had some plates installed. The story is an hour and 13 minutes when he tells it akd he told it to me 3 times. (Because "you told ke this, stop talking" isn't in his comprehension)
3- i met 3 new gamers and discovered a person i have known for 5 years is a closet gamer. Now I just need to coax them away from old D&D to better options.
4- despite labor and lumber costs, they erected several new buildings. None of them fit the renn faire theme but they are all yellow pine with metal roofing and an improvement over the rotted structures that got replaced so good on the faire.
4a- one of these is a high roof pavillion over a long existing concrete slab perfect for party events held during the show. Looks great.
- except somebody ran a drain culvert under the path next to it to take water out of the wooded area and dug an open ditch that runs all the water STRAIGHT INTO THE PAVILLION.
5- the regulars always need to complain. This year it has to do with lines on day one to get the new Season pass. It is a photo ID. They have one computer, 1 ID card printer and 1 camera. I went on day 2 with no line and it took 5 minutes because i was chatting with the staff. It could have been done in 3. To hear the regulars, you would have thought each one took 3 hours to complete.
- the camera is poorly positioned and makes each picture so small, you can't see who is on it. Also the same lady has been checking passes for 10 years, knows everyone on sight and never asks to actually see a pass. We could all skip paying and nobody would ever notice.
6- i have been there in the worst deluges imaginable but the skipped season left it unattended for a year in terms of fresh gravel and upkeep. The standing water was the worst i have ever seen there. The high ground had puddles, the low areas had pools.
7- you know it will be a good year when you approach a long time friend who is a member of the performing cast. (Captain of the royal guard) and ask, "so what is the plot this year?" And said friend shrugs and replies, "I dunno".
Yep, the dumpster fire is back same as it ever was.