Changes, I Announce Them

Yes, two posts in one morning! They started out as one, but are both long even split up (so if you didn’t see the MuseCon report I posted a little bit ago, now you know it exists). 

There have been changes since the beginning of 2017 which haven’t been mentioned here.

Ron and Toshiba amicably separated back on February 1. Instead of another job in software/hardware QA, Ron made a significant career change and got his CDL (big truck driver’s license), and is now working for Roehl Transportation, driving flatbed 14-ish days on the road, 3-ish home. Robin is working on getting his CDL, and is probably going to follow Ron to Roehl. This past weekend was MuseCon, and Ron got home 7-ish Friday night, and went back on duty Tuesday morning. And we determined that a weekend convention is not a good way to spend his time off, even though we bailed fairly early Sunday. 

So, anything Otter’s going to do going forward is going to have to be something I can handle by myself, or me and Xap. Plus, I have more responsibilities around the house.  

So on the way home on Sunday I started thinking and plotting, and while waiting for Ron to catch up for breakfast, at information on the local high school craft shows. What I assume are the prime spaces at Fremd’s are sold out, but not all spaces. Still spaces at Palatine HS (PHS, where Robin went). I haven’t been to Fremd’s, but it seems pretty big, and they charge more than PHS, which probably means they get enough traffic to allow that. Both are one-day shows, which means setup and teardown in one day, but doesn’t completely wipe out a whole weekend and/or take (as many) vacation days for preparation/recovery.

I’ve registered for a booth at the Fremd show, and am planning to get one at PHS shortly. The plan is to take doll clothes, books, purses, satchels, leather book covers, and buckled belts. Also potion bottles if I think there’s room. As for display, either one 6’ or two 4’ tables, and one or two triangles of gridwall. All stuff that will fit into Mongo (I can drive a vehicle pulling a trailer, but I don’t like to, and am not up to moving the Things, Max, and the Grinch in and out of the trailer, even if there wasn’t all that gridwall to also work around). Also that I can handle without help, although both HS craft shows make student muscles available. 

I also plan to really, truly, for sure this time get more stuff up on Etsy. To that end, Robin is going to bring Max (the smaller rolling tool case) in to hold merchandise listed on Etsy. It’s going to live in the front entry, where the bins of potion bottles are currently stacked. The bins of potion bottles can go out to Max’s space in the trailer. They previously travelled inside a vehicle instead of the trailer, and have lived in the house, in order to protect the glass contents. Being stored in the non-moving trailer is not a problem. 

We looked at the space this morning, and decided that, because of the shelves behind the front door, it would be easier to put Max into position from the dining room side of the doorway between the front entry and the dining room (Max is going to sit in said doorway, which has been non-human-passable for mumble years and not easily usable by dogs anyway). This morning, while Robin’s out running errands I’ve cleared off the drafting table, covered it with a shipping blanket, and temporarily moved a couple things onto it, and taken down the table that was on the dining room side of the doorway that said things were sitting on. Which mean when I’ve also returned the drafting table to a usable state, yay! 

When Robin gets back we’ll shift the glass bins and finish making space for and access to Max, and I’ll supervise him bringing Max in. I’ve also started shoving a higgeldy-piggeldy box of belts from the dining room out to the living room for sorting and posting on Etsy this weekend. I also have the beginnings of a plan for working on doll clothes, but one thing at a time. Because I seem to be developing the cold that Ron brought home last weekend. 

When we’re in the trailer today I may pull some belt pouches out of one of the Things to post on Etsy. We’ll see how that goes. And Robin is going to put a half-dozen pieces of 6’ gridwall (which fits in Mongo’s bed) in the storage locker, which will be easier for me to access on my own than in the main mass of gridwall in the trailer. 

So, I have a plan for Otter Necessities moving forward.