Course Change
I’M RUNNING THE NERD & TIE EXPO THIS WEEKEND IN EAU CLAIRE, WI.
Current Post On Trae’s Blog:
My grandmother died last night. This wasn't a shock or a surprise. Her health has been on the decline, and she's been in hospice for the last month. She lived a long life, and in her final days she was surrounded by her three adult children.
My grandma was a kind woman. She wasn't perfect, but I always felt loved in her presence. She was a retired kindergarten teacher, and was still working when I was a kid. I have so many happy memories sitting at her kitchen table, and I'm going to carry those with me for the rest of my life. She was also proof that anyone who claims that you get more conservative as you get older is full of shit, because she certainly didn't.
I think it's interesting how the body processes grief sometimes. I don't know that I'll cry, but over the past month, knowing this was coming, I've felt a tension in my gut. Now that she's passed, instead of relief that tension is replaced by a sense of emptiness. That something is missing that should still be there. Something has been taken away, and I feel it.
Of course, as I wrote that, I immediately started crying... so I guess my body processes grief in pretty ordinary ways too.
I wanted to come up with something profound linking this to Beltane, which we sit in the middle of right now, but it just seemed hackneyed. Like I was trying to dig out some greater significance when the truth is death comes whenever it wants. The only predictable thing about it is that it's the end of all of our journeys. I hope that when I pass I'm so lucky to have lived such a long life with people that I love around me in my final days.
For the record, I will be fine. I just needed to get these words out while they were still in my head. I don't have some rousing conclusion or deep insight to tack on here at the end, just that gut feeling that something is missing.
Because it is.
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Now you get the eyes.
And here I’m like “Oooooooh you did not just say that.” The two should smack his junk right there considering they probably are close them judging from their height.
It’s occurred to me time and time again then I’ve been considerably lucky with my experiences working the vendors hall. I’ve definitely had problems, but I’ve been fortunate that I’ve never had to deal with a rude or childish vendor. All of my issues have largely been with sight management or the one time security had to escort a thief out while I was getting lunch and the person I’d left in my steed didn’t bother to call me…
I greatly disliked the one time I worked the vendor room. It was definitely not for me.
Basicly…Run
…always remember: You asked for it.:
…of all the possible choices, I think he may have just taken the very worst one.
Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhh.
At least the times that I’ve run dealers rooms, there was a “right to revoke at anytime” sort of clause. My response would be, “Would you prefer that I call the police or hotel security to have you escorted off the premises?”
Heck, that’s in our Con’s Standards of Conduct. As the top: “Any action or behavior that causes significant interference with convention operations, excessive discomfort to other attendees, or adversely affects Anthrocon’s relationship with its guests, its venues or the public is strictly forbidden and may result in permanent suspension of membership.”
I like specific right to revoke at any time lingo, though. I have.. sorta that in our Dealers Room Packet. I may strengthen.
Closest I’ve ever had to working the Dealer’s Room was when I used to pass through Saturday afternoons with cold water in pitchers plus cups, in a room that had no water service (this was many years ago), on a hot afternoon when the air conditioning died. This met with Napproval that I did it thereafter for years. Yes, I remembered to stand in the middle of the aisle while pouring so as NOT to get any water on the stock in trade. But I didn’t have to locate bootlegs or anything else guaranteed to get the vendor evicted without prejudice.