evile

Oct. 11th, 2004

Oct. 11, 2004

evile: hey :) How was Harvest King?
SkyeDS: we had a very good time, which we intend to repeat
evile: excellent.
SkyeDS: despite my getting lost and nearly stuck in the mud in the
middle of nowhere with the horses and a dead cell phone, twice
SkyeDS: getting stung in the lip by a bee
SkyeDS: and the biggest problem, which is, Loki didn't have the
authority to tell me I could vend horseback rides
evile: ugh.
SkyeDS: and on top of that forgot to tell the Board he DID authorize
it
evile: nice.
SkyeDS: two of them didn't care, one of them is VERY anal
SkyeDS: but it all turned out ok in the end
evile: good.

evile: Found out at the last minute that Jaime was doing sound for
the bands, so I would have known someone besides just y'all if I went.
SkyeDS: you would have enjoyed the Fire show (Brujahs del Fuego) and
the Sex Temple
evile: probably not the sex temple so much.
SkyeDS: don't know about that.
SkyeDS: someone set up a permanent dungeon as part of the temple
SkyeDS: and very nice altars
evile: cool.
SkyeDS: the land is lovely, despite being sandy and sand getting
EVERYwhere (like your mouth when you're asleep)
evile: yum.
SkyeDS: electricity, hot showers, full kitchen
evile: cool.
SkyeDS: do you feel any better?
evile: nope.
SkyeDS: <hugs> I'm sorry :(
evile: nah, it's OK. Pretty sure it's mostly allergies & some random
existential angst for flavor.
SkyeDS: camping would have been very much bad for allergies
evile: Yup I was just outside for the day on Sunday and it ruined me.
evile: Did they end up letting you vend, or not?
SkyeDS: they did
evile: oh, good.
SkyeDS: everyone was cool but one person out of three on the BOD
SkyeDS: and everyone else came up to me privately to let me know they
were going to "work on her"
evile: heh.
SkyeDS: so right as we're leaving she asks if I have insurance, and I
said, no, all I need is my waiver, I am protected by TX law.
SkyeDS: and I told her, let me know who you get event insurance from,
and I"ll talk to them
SkyeDS: and she says,we have no event insurance.
SkyeDS: so I'm thinking, I need insurance and you don't ...why...?
evile: wierd.
SkyeDS: we made enough money to cover the price of all three tickets
so that was ok
evile: cool.
SkyeDS: sold two pair of earrings and did two readings and the rest
of it was in rides
evile: so I take it that an ESA fest would be fine for fun but not if
you wanted to actually make $?
SkyeDS: you would undoubtedly make more money there than we did
SkyeDS: you are more professional at it - as well you know
evile: The 1 and only trickster-organized thing I did, I broke
exactly even.
SkyeDS: thankfully Trickster is not in charge, as much as he seems to
think he is.
SkyeDS: all I did was, put out my sign, cover a picnic table with
black panne, put my stuff out on picnic table, adn sit
SkyeDS: bard the girls up and occasionally ride when bored
evile: That sounds like my set up for the one APPD I did.
SkyeDS: no pavilion (everyone else had one, nice ones like yours)
SkyeDS: no marketing efforts whatsoever
evile: I did not do my full set up for APPD because they didn't give
me enough room or enough time to do so.
SkyeDS: we had all the room we wanted, and could have had more
SkyeDS: we easily took up as much room as three other vendors would
have
SkyeDS: and there were no vendors fees
SkyeDS: when I gave Seneca my opinion about asking 10% instead of a
flat vendor's fee, because I thought they'd probably ask at $50 or
more, which is industry standard
evile: that is cool. did the other vendors seem to be doing OK, or
did you check them out?
SkyeDS: she said they were thinking about a flat fee of $5, and I
said, oh, well, that's diffurnt :(
SkyeDS: err :)
SkyeDS: <hangs head> I wasn't paying close enough attention to see
how much money was changing hands
evile: *shrug* No biggie.
SkyeDS: our cashflow snowballed
SkyeDS: started slow, then got bigger as time progressed and parents
realized we are worth the money as babysitters
evile: Flat fees are definitely better, you can get them up front.
Asking for percentages either makes people cheat you, or makes them
nervous.
SkyeDS: true
SkyeDS: but I'd rather give 10% (and I'm honest, a rarity I know)
than $50
SkyeDS: because I'm not a professional vendor, and $50 would have
been half if not more than what I made altogether
SkyeDS: gross (not counting expenses of being there)
SkyeDS: but a flat fee of $5 is more than reasonable
evile: Ok, but if $50 was all you made, and it had cost you more than
that to prepare & do the festival, 10% of that would be...annoying.
SkyeDS: I told her, you jack your fee up to industry standard and a
lot of small vendors can't afford that
evile: yup. But the quality of goods for consumers tends to go up.
SkyeDS: I didn't talk to gate, but the guesstimate was that there
were 100 in attendance more or less
evile: sounds like a fun time.
SkyeDS: I can't imagine that anyone would want to pay very much of a
flat fee for such a small gathering
SkyeDS: but, $5 should be in anyone's range
SkyeDS: as long as Seneca doesn't talk John and Joy Gerace (the other
two BOD who own the land) into requiring us to have insurance
SkyeDS: very hypocritical to require it of us when the event itself
isn't.
evile: *nod* Your waiver ought to be enough, considering equestrian
laws in TX and all.
SkyeDS: seems like organizers of events don't understand what
insurance does and does not do
evile: *nod*
SkyeDS: all it does is pay for the lawyers when people try to sue you
despite the waiver and the law
evile: heh.
SkyeDS: that protects ME, not the holders of the event
SkyeDS: and that's MY problem, not theirs, if I don't have it
evile: yup.
evile: Did you happen to run across Jaime or Kathleen out there, btw?
SkyeDS: I remember seeing Jaime running sound, I knew I recognized,
but couldn't place name
evile: well, he was there working, so...
SkyeDS: I don't remember seeing Kathleen but that signifies nothing
evile: *nod*
evile: you were busy doing your thing, no big. Just thought I'd ask.
SkyeDS: I was very out of it Saturday night
evile: from the bee ?
SkyeDS: didn't even touch the adult beverage or I would have been
asleep rather than out of it
SkyeDS: probably
evile: yuck.
SkyeDS: the only things I remember about Saturday night were the fire
show
SkyeDS: seeing Tiny again, meeting his lady
SkyeDS: and vaguely seeing Jaime behind the sound board (because I
was sitting right behind him)
SkyeDS: and I was FREEZING when nobody else was
evile: it did get chilly overnight this weekend.
SkyeDS: they had one of those newfangled soft sided pools there to
play in
evile: oh, fun.
evile: I saw a portable hot tub like that at the last home & garden
show I went to. it was tiny, though.
SkyeDS: hm
SkyeDS: never seen one of those
evile: It looked fun, but for the $ I'd rather have a real one.
evile: Here is one like I saw at the H&G show:
http://www.4backyards.com/hot-tubs/spago.php
evile: only it was not as big as this one looks....
SkyeDS: cheapest one I've seen online so far
evile: *shrug* more than Id want to spend, anyway.
evile: OMG, the Cbar trail ride is this upcoming weekend! How did
THAT happen?
SkyeDS: is always that weekend
evile: I guess so, it just snuck up on me, I meant to do that one of
these days. Not this weekend, though.
SkyeDS: they always have them the 16/17 of Oct, April
SkyeDS: so another one in 6 mos.
evile: I think that weekend in April is both poly big fun and
another festival out at ESA
SkyeDS: and possibly Eeyore's
SkyeDS: and the Bryn Gwlad/Tir Medoin Equestrian Only event
evile: damn.
SkyeDS: which I am so tempted not to go to if Laura and Linda don't
evile: *nod*
SkyeDS: most experienced Eq in the shire, and my job is to stay away
from Bridget
evile: well, foo, it's time for me to get on out of here.
SkyeDS: wind to your wings :)
evile: *hugs* see ya tomorrow.
SkyeDS: hugs :)

Oct. 11, 2004

evile: hi :)
thewordnerd: Hey, what's up? Feeling any better?
evile: nah. I think it's just allergies. I'm just tired & blah.
thewordnerd: Ah, sounds like what I was going through during most of last
week. I wonder if moving from one part of town to another can affect
them so drastically? I didn't think I was allergic to anything until
this, my first fall out of south Austin.
evile: It's possible. There may be plants outside, by your pool, that
are giving off pollen & such now, or there may be more mold in the
mulch, or whatever.
thewordnerd: True. I went through this at John's, too, where there was
generally more nature and less concrete. Ugh. I'm starting to not
like nature.
evile: she's a bitch.
evile: If I were to lose my job and/or my Sweetie, I'd move to the
desert.
thewordnerd: Hah. I'm not quite that hardcore. :) Couldn't deal with the
temperature extremes.
evile: everything is air conditioned. And no humidity, so no mold,
which is my major allergen.
thewordnerd: I don't know what mine are, and it doesn't sound like the test
is really worth taking to find out. :)
evile: Whenever I feel like shit, I just check the local news website
to find out what allergens are high that day. I find that when molds
are high, I have lots of congestion & fatigue.
thewordnerd: Hmmm, perhaps I should do that.
evile: certain pollens just make my eyes itchy and goopy. I can deal
with that, but mold is ick.
thewordnerd: So, did you end up doing anything this weekend, or did you
stay in?
evile: I went to the VW show with Sweetie on Sunday, but all I did was
sleep.
evile: Nice that the vanagon has a place for sleeping :)
thewordnerd: hEH. hOW LONG WAS THE SHOW? wAS IT IN TOWN?
evile: No. It was in this place up near Temple called "morgans point
resort"...not very well-named, but it was OK. There was a campout
Saturday night, but Sweetie didn't go up for that, just for the show on
Sunday.
evile: We got there around 9 a.m. and everything was over by 2:30
thewordnerd: Ah, so you went to offer support? That's nice; I'd have been
sorely tempted to just stay at home and do my sleeping there. :)
evile: I should have.
evile: If I had stayed home, I would have given myself a big guilt
trip about cleaning house & doing STUFF. So going somewhere in the
middle of nowhere with nothing to do was a good excuse to nap.
thewordnerd: Ah, that's true, I hadn't thought of it that way. Hopefully it
was a nice drive and resort, too, so the change of scenery would have
been nice.
evile: 'resort' is a misnomer. The town is actually called this...but
it is a collection of smallish houses and a park with a baseball
field.
thewordnerd: Oh, damn, what a let-down. :)
evile: *shrug* It was odd.
thewordnerd: Hey, any word on TRF weekend possibilities, or are you still
interested? I may just go next weekend, tag along with the kid-
friendly poly thing and hatch an evil scheme to deal with any overly-
annoying kids.
evile: *shrug* I'm still undecided about the poly-TRF thing. it's the
same weekend as a VW campout that Sweetie is going to.
thewordnerd: Ah. Tough call.
evile: really. I dont' want to camp with the VW people, & I don't
necessarily want to camp with kids. (assuming the parentals were/are
cool, it would be OK, but I'm doing a worst-case scenario and
picturing her running around telling everyone to be quiet because HER
kids want to sleep)
thewordnerd: Yeah. I don't know, I was thinking of going with the group
but, depending on how kid-friendly it's supposed to be, making a non-
kid camp and diplomatically explaining that I'm glad for the company
and to be going as part of a larger group, but that I want my own
space as to not interfere with the kids.
evile: well, apparently she's planning on camping with everyone, and
NOT in the quiet family camping, so as far as I'm concerned, she
should expect noise & crazyness, but some pepole just don't get that.
thewordnerd: Fair enough. If the worst case happens, I'm planning on being
there for two nights, so I can always relocate on the second, then
warn anyone who only plans on staying for one. :) I need to find out
who's going that weekend; I wonder if I know any of them.
evile: I'd only be there Saturday & Saturday night, if I went.
thewordnerd: *nods* So I could warn you if people were being crazy and
demanding silence. :)
evile: If you can't sleep through noise, don't camp at faire. That's
my philosophy.
thewordnerd: Seems reasonable to me.
evile: While I would be polite about it if someone demanded that I be
quiet, most people camping at faire are drunken rednecks who will
make colorful anatomical suggestions to go along with their refusal
to comply
thewordnerd: Good, so sounds as if I don't have to worry about being
undiplomatic, even at my worst.
evile: nope
evile: Niki had talked about having a party that weekend, I wonder
if she's still doing that.
thewordnerd: Hmmm.
evile: I'd rather spend time in town with Niki than out of town with
random strangers.
thewordnerd: Yeah, I think I would, too. The whole being on the road for a
few hours with people I don't even know is a bit daunting. I really
want to go to fair, but if there's something else going on that
weekend then I may wait until later.
evile: *nod*
evile: *shudder* Just read Rifka's LJ. ew ew ew.
thewordnerd: Hah. I was wondering when you'd notice/comment on that. :)
evile: I really don't think I'm a prude...but there's just some
things I don't feel are polite conversation materal.
thewordnerd: I suppose it depends on the company, really. Rifka has a habit
of dropping things like that regardless of that, though.
evile: yeah. I am probably too much of a prude. I went to a GWNN
munch and got offended when a complete stranger approached me and
said "what are you in to?

thewordnerd: Heh. I don't think there's anything wrong with being offended
by that, though. I mean, a complete stranger? Ick.
evile: Rifka is like...the queen of TMI.
thewordnerd: LOL Agreed.
evile: Well, GWWN is for kinky people to meet other kinky
people...but it might have been nice if he'd bothered with a few
lines of normal conversation 'chit chat' first.
thewordnerd: Agreed.
evile: "Hi, I'm Jaime, I like to tie people up, what are you into"
was just a little de trop, I guess. At least for me.
evile: Just because one is a Dominant does not mean you can't be
polite
thewordnerd: Exactly.
evile: Hi, I'm a Domme, so I'm going to violate social rules to
impose my will on you!
evile: Um, yeah.
thewordnerd: LOL That's disturbing.
evile: The Polys are generally less socially-retarded than any other
group of wierdos I've found. It's refreshing.
evile: it's funny & wierd, but when I hang out with socially retarded
people or groups, I end up feeling kind of bad about myself
afterwards, because I usually fail to connect. Intellectually, i
realize it's THEM, not me, but I still feel bad for not finding a way
to fit in.
thewordnerd: I can relate, it's how I've felt around most of my group of
friends for quite some time now. Quite a few of them aren't exactly
socially sophisticated, and it took me some time to realize that.
evile: yeah.
thewordnerd: So is everyone in GWNN as 'socially retarded'? Was just
browsing their website.
evile: I haven't really met anyone there. I know folks from poly who
go, and I socialize with them, but other than that, I haven't been
able to penetrate the 'cliques' and get to know anybody new.
evile: I guess because I don't just walk up to strangers and start
talking about fisting and tying people up right off the bat....
thewordnerd: Ah, so it's somewhat cliquish, then? I'm kinda looking for
more groups/organizations to join, and I've heard you and others
mention them before, so I'm trying to sound them out.
thewordnerd: Ah.
thewordnerd: Yeah, that sounds kinda awkward.
evile: *shrug* You may have a better experience. I haven't really
felt comfortable with GWNN yet.
evile: I think there is some mailing list for GWNN, but I haven't
found it. Austin Voyagers has a yahoo group, but I find it to be
clique-ish, too. And annoying at times when 2 people are using the
list to flirt with one another. Um, either impart info to the GROUP
or take it to email, people..
thewordnerd: Eek, that's annoying. Do they have a website, out of
curiosity? I've tried googling for them before, but only pulled up a
bunch of star trek info. :P
evile: no website that I know of, just the yahoo group.
thewordnerd: Ah.
evile: the main people who started that, or at least who hosted the
parties, are no longer 'in the scene' due to having one's ex die &
getting custody of the kids.
thewordnerd: Hmmm. So it just sort of is, doesn't have the same original
leadership?
evile: yeah. I guess people have taken up the slack as far as
moderating the group & hosting the parties.
thewordnerd: Hmmmm. Doesn't sound very stable.
evile: *shrug* no idea. I've been to 1 party and I read the yahoo
group
evile: do you read the capital area job club yahoo group? I recommend
it to everyone I know who is looking for work.
thewordnerd: No. Have a URL by chance?
evile: http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/capitalareajobclub/
thewordnerd: Nifty, thanks, I'll take a look.
evile: Most of the posts seem to be computer stuff, so it's not
useful to me, but others seem to have some luck there.
thewordnerd: Coolness. I need to find more lists like that. Navigating
sites like monster.com can be somewhat annoying and tend to make the
process much more difficult than it needs to be.
evile: yup
evile: I have yet to make it all the way through the UT application
online.
thewordnerd: Ewww.
evile: Is there a nice way to say "yes I have (whatever), but you may
not use it?"
thewordnerd: 'No I don't have whatever?' ;)
evile: Oh, duh. I'm too fuckin' honest.
thewordnerd: Heh. Yeah, that's my problem as well. Always bugs me when
people ask one thing and mean another. My favorite, when I had my
guide dog, was 'Does she bite?' which really meant 'I want to pet her
but don't want to ask that, so if I pet her will I lose a finger?'
evile: heh.
thewordnerd: I finally just started saying 'Yeah, she bites me all the
time,' because she did in play, but that gave them pause. :P
evile: I was always taught that you don't mess with service dogs, no
matter how cute or pettable they seem.
evile: it's working, so don't even ask.
thewordnerd: Lots of people don't get that. It's one of the several reasons
I gave her up. I was too frustrated to be required to say no many
times per day, and too nice to truly enjoy being mean to people who
didn't bother asking.
evile: yeah.
evile: My phone just beeped at me and said I missed a call from
you. ???
thewordnerd: LOL Wow, that'd be from last wednesday. :P
evile: what lovely service I have. I already listened to that
message, when it beeped at me on Friday and said I'd missed a call
from you!
thewordnerd: Hmmm. I don't think I've called since, unless I was asleep, or
my phone accidentally dialed your number again.
evile: Seems Sweetie will get his way and I will have to switch to his
service & get a new phone.
thewordnerd: Who are you with now?
evile: T Mobile.
thewordnerd: Hmmm. I wonder if that's who my parents are trying to rope me
into using.
evile: their coverage is weak, but their customer service is good.
thewordnerd: Hmmm. The fact that my parents can't even get signal in my
house is already quite a deturrent.
evile: Sweetie has Cingular and he likes it pretty well. I just don't
want to change phones. I like mine. (resistant to change, that's me.)
thewordnerd: Hmmm, and the services aren't compatible as far as phones go?
evile: I have no idea. Cingular has some kind of 'family' plan that
would supposedly cost 'us' less than him and I having separate phone
services. But I am not excited about it, due to having to get a new
phone in order to get the plan.
evile: I suspect he wants a newer, smaller, more gadget-ified phone
and in order to justify its purchase, wants to dump his old phone off
on me.
thewordnerd: Hmmm. I can understand that. Having to reprogram everything
can certainly get annoying, too.
evile: plus, me paying $25 a month for MY service is cheaper to me
than paying $50 a month for OUR service, know what I'm sayin'...
evile: I took over everything but the mortgage when he lost his job
and he hasnt' taken any of it back yet.
evile: I'm working on 4 years with no raise. So I really dont' want
any more bills.
thewordnerd: Ah. Makes sense.
evile: He ran up a lot of personal debt while he was unemployed,
which he's been trying to get out from under. Well, I 've got those
too, and I manage it PLUS our bills, plus my bills. wah.
thewordnerd: Yeah, sounds like quite a bit, and I can certainly see why you
wouldn't want to switch, other than having to get a new phone.
evile: My new way of dealing with Sweetie's crackpot ideas: say OK,
but dont' do any of the work. So if he wants it, he'll have to make
it happen all by himself. Therefore, it won't happen.
thewordnerd: LOL Wow, I should try that with some people.
evile: it's horribly dishonest and passive agressive and i rather
hate myself for being either of those things, but hey, it works. Who
am I to argue with what works, even if it turns me into someone I
despise?
thewordnerd: Hmmm.
evile: well, I am outta here for another day. see ya!
thewordnerd: Bye!