Well folks, I'm sorry I took so long to blog about anything at all and in particular my show last weekend.
I've been busy not to mention fatigued from doing shows consecutive weekends as well as not inspired enough to do it.
Alas, too many days and other details of life have come about since last weekend so I've undoubtedly forgotten some details of last weekend's 50th Annual "Art in Stone" rock show hosted by the Kern County Mineral Society (KCMS) which was held at the Kern County Fairgrounds, but I shall do my best.
For dealers/vendors Saturday/Sunday shows start on Friday with packing and travel to the venue and set-up.
I packed up in the late morning/early afternoon of Friday, May 2, 2008.
My buddy Mike Lyons and I headed over to Bakersfield via Highway 41 northeast to Highway 46 east to Wasco where we took at quick break and then onto Highway 99 south to Highway 58 east to Union Avenue south to Belle Terrace west to Avenue P and south into the Kern County Fairgrounds.
We then proceeded to unpack and begin the process anew of setting up our display and trying to make it look as attractive and inviting as possible using both our display equipment (Mike's glass plates are always the centerpiece of our display) combined with the inventory itself.
As is typical with set-up day we did a bit of hanging out and talking with the other dealers.
Part of this entails window shopping atnd actual shopping at other dealer's booths of which I partook purchasing a set of small meteorites and tektites in a nice leather and glass case from Sandi's Jewels & Gems of Maricopa, CA.
The host club feted us with a simple stew which was nice of them, but it was a step down from what they did last year.
The reason for this is they are an older club and they just didn't have the personnel available to fete us with anything more elaborate. This is a problem across much of our hobby as it seems to age faster than it can be replenished with infusions of new blood.
Over the course of the late afternoon and into the evening we accomplished most of our set-up and decided to leave the remainder for Saturday morning before the show opened as we'd have an extra hour compared to most shows as this one wasn't to start until 10 a.m.
We had brought our camping gear in case we could strike a tent in a situation as convenient for camping as the Bakersfield Rock & Gem Rendevous show we attended several weeks earlier but alas, no dice so we decided to get a room at Motel 6.
I dialed 411 to contact them but discovered that there are something like four of them in the Bakersfield area so I had to track down the closest Motel 6 which was in South Bakersfield.
We headed over there directly from the venue finding it quite easily despite my unfamiliarity with the neighborhood.
Check-in got bogged down as the gal who served us was new to the job.
I found it disconcerting how much "punkage" was spending the night there with us.
This was underscored by the presence of a roaming security guard all evening.
That night I was graced with his presence and rather quickly figured him out: middle-aged white male who couldn't hack it as a real cop so found this job gave him a badge and a modicum of authority which he projected to the full.
Although our room wasn't a "wireless" room the bleed-over from an adjacent room made it possible for me to log onto the internet although the signal was weak. Unfortunately, I was too tired to blog that day that night.
The night went smoothly with a comfortable sleep.
My little Chihuahua/Jack Russell "Terror" Tequila started the night on Mike's bed and ended it on my bed which she did the following night as well.
Kim,
ReplyDeleteThanks for writing this up!
You're remembering it just fine.
I'm looking forward to the next installments!
It's funny...going into it I felt I was drawing a blank and as I went it all came back to me, even all the little details that I had made a point at the time of making a mental note of for blogging purposes.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened between you and the "roaming security guard?" Did he give you some crap?
ReplyDeleteYep, he sure did.
ReplyDeleteI was outside my room on the second floor walkway adjacent to my door talking to Krissa on my cell phone as low as I could as I didn't want anybody else to hear us as it was a very private discussion.
Ding-Dong told me to move it down the walkway a ways as the office manager's room was right below me and I was disturbing her.
I asked him if he had received a complaint and surprise, surprise, he said "no".
First off, my voice typically carries but I was not being loud then as I wanted privacy.
Secondly, if I was being too loud then moving me down the walkway would simply cause me to bother somebody else, no?
Of course, perhaps I put him in an ill humor by asking him right before this if his presence there was a good thing or a bad thing, to wit, a bad thing as crime is so high there and the facility is so dangerous his presence is necessary OR his being there is a good thing as it is merely a precaution and all is under control.