Weekend Update
Labor Day weekend past was a mixed bag for me, emotionally and physically. It was a weekend of ups and downs.
The weekend did not start off too terribly well, as I had to work at the bar Friday night. This was the first home game of the season, with a brand new coach, and things promised to be busy. The bar manager knew over a month ago that I needed the weekend off, but insisted that I work the Friday eve. While I really wanted to be with my friends, I was lamenting over the small fortune I'd be losing, so I ventured forth once more into the breach. Nothing much to really report, other than being busier than an insert your favorite busy cliche here.
I finally finished my normal cleanup duties, and then my extra "getting ready for a home game" duties, and headed off for the event, at 4:45am.... It's amazing how fast the trip actually goes when there is not a soul on the road but myself. I made great time. Too great, in fact. I arrived an hour before the gate reopened, so I headed a little further down the road looking for a quick place to grab breakfast. I finally found a BK Steakhouse (Burger King, for the unhip), choked down a cardiovascular nightmare, sipped some swill that I won't even pretend to be coffee, and headed back to the event site.
Gate was open, and after chatting with some old friends for about 15 minutes, constantly insisting that I had an important meeting with a tent and a pillow, I headed for the reservations hall. I was informed that since I wasn't pre-registered, and was paying cash, that I'd have to come back at 8:00, when the cash box was due to arrive. I should've taken this as a sign.... Oh, well, the long nap I intended would keep for another hour, I suppose.
I headed down to the encampment to unpack the truck. There was my tent, set up in the front of the camp. Good squires! I'd be able to register and head directly to go, collect 200 z's. I grabbed my box of garb and lugged it inside the tent. The empty tent. The terribly empty, no bed containing tent. The no fan included for the blazing hot weather tent. Bad squires! Oh well. I got unpacked and headed back out to reservations. The cash box was in (yay) so I paid my fees and headed back to camp. The air mattress got thrown in the tent in my absence, along with an air pump, so I filled it up in time to decide that there was no way in Hades that I could sleep in that oven. I stole a squire's tent, complete with fan, and managed to catch a much needed 4 hours.
Upon awakening, I showered and got ready for the grand processional. Being a Baron means having duties, so I accept this fate. All of representatives of the groups of the Kingdom were lined up in their proper order, and we proceded to...wait. Somehow, three of the four Barons of the Kingdom ended up together. We decided that there must be a baron magnet around. We then wondered what a group of barons should be called. Considering the...um....gross tonnage of the barons assembled, we came up with "Beef". A group would be a "Beef of Barons". The Baronesses, while not gathered (no magnet), were determined to be a "Bevvy", as there was no way in Hell any of us were going to call them Beefs. The procession started and we were on our merry little way. During court, one of my squires was called forth. He and his partner had won the joust tourney earlier. Now, squires? When your knight, who had been sleeping during the tournement, asks you "How did the fighting go?", and you won the list, you do not reply "Okay."
After court, we headed back to camp to unwind, have dinner, and commence to party like it's 1299.... Normally, the big parties end up in our camp, but there were so many other activities that we skipped that part. There was Thorstenn's vigil, and the Associates Party and the Peers Party. I spent time with Thorstenn, imparting my sage wisdom as a knight to an almost knight. Then it was time to head over to the Peers Party (though I'd seriously considered crashing the Associates Party just for fun...). The group was small, but jovial. After some socializing, we decided on a theme for the party. It was: Ham, Eclair, Beer, Breastesses. One had to eat a chunk of ham with an eclair, take a big chug of beer, and kiss Mistress Melesse's breasts (only the exposed upper version....it was a silly game, but a clean one, mind you). I don't recall how this actually got started, other than a couple of us actually trying the ham and eclairs together, on a dare. Not really all that bad. Not great, mind you, but not that bad. The last part got added when my squire stole my idea and crashed the Peer Party. We made him do the routine, adding the beer and breasts part, for extra embarrassment. I think it was all Sir Bron's idea. He's such a troublemaker. My squire did the rest, but balked at the breasts. Squires.... Anyway, that was about all the excitement I could stand for one evening, and the 4 hours of sleep weren't cutting it, so it was off to bed for me.
Sunday started off with one of my squires nagging me to go see Dr. Bill (a SCAdian who happens to be a chiropractor). My neck had been bothering me for about a week, and the good doc happed to have his tools with him. I lazed around for a while, not wanting to venture out into the weather, which was, I believe, about London Broil setting. After enough nagging, I headed out to find the right cabin. The doctor was in, and worked on my neck, and also did his magic to my shoulder, which has been messed up for a long time. I felt like a million bucks, while it lasted anyway. The neck is still fine, but the shoulder only lasted about 6 hours, at which point it hurt even worse. I don't blame Bill, mind you. It didn't really hurt worse, but after feeling no pain, for the first time in a long time, when the pains came back, it felt like it was worse than ever. I suppose one just gets used to living in pain... I'll have to make another appointment. I'm sure that after more treatment, the pain just may go away for good. Wouldn't that be nice?
There were several tournements on Sunday, and I got to play "hero" by running down to the feast hall and picking up a box of popsicles to distribute to the melting horde. They were a much needed treat.
Sunday turned sour when it was discovered that a friend's husband had died suddenly, and she had to be rushed away from the event. I felt miserable for her, and also for her friends (and his), who were all devasted.
The day took an even bigger turn for the worse by my discovering that another dear friend is fighting cancer. She is a strong woman, and bound and determined to win this battle, and I know that she can, but it still hit home pretty hard. I've only known her, since, like, forever, so the news tore me up fairly badly.
Some of the event crew came by our camp and asked if we'd help clean up the dining pavillion after feast, which we readily agreed to do. That was probably the biggest highlight of the weekend - watching the incredible amount of folks who showed up to help. The place was cleaned and packed in no time. The best part was watching the big, round, white tables roll their way uphill in the dark. The rollers themselves could not be seen, just large white tablets marching across the field. It was the march of the giant Trimarian aspirin....
After the cleanup, a couple of us decided to check on some friends who were grieving over the death, and made sure they were doing all right. As a bit of mood lifter, a pinata was provided. Nothing makes you feel better than beating the snot out of a tissue paper zero....
Afterwards, I wandered back to my camp, as I didn't feel much like carousing. I was just in the mood to sit at "home" and enjoy a beer or twelve. During this time, a visitor to our camp came home, well into her cups. I attempted to steer her toward her own tent, but she insisted that she wasn't going to sleep alone. Here we go again! Twice, in one week! I told her that she wouldn't be alone, and could sleep in my tent, and managed to get her there, with quite a bit of swaying. I got her plopped down onto my air mattress, and she was out cold in seconds. I went back outside and rejoined the group. They insisted that I should be canonized... but don't you have to be dead for that? No thanks.
Everyone was worried about where I was going to sleep, but it wasn't a big issue. There were a couple of spare tents around, as well as the one belonging to Miss Inebriated, so I would be just fine.
Well, that really wasn't much of an issue anyway. After I while I heard gurgling noises from my tent. Visions of Jim Morrison filled my head, so I rushed in to look after her. Sure enough, she was lying on her back, and, um...., ridding herself of the excess alcohol. You know, the technicolor yawn. She was vomiting, okay? I managed to get her rolled onto her side and held her there while she continued to dump the contents of her stomach all over my tent. She finally stopped and passed back out. Well, that's inaccurate, as she never really came to. After that, I was too fearful for her to leave her alone, so I sat down beside the air mattress and proceded to watch her, all night. She did get sick again, but was able to at least sit up for this one. The morning brought one hung-over little girl.... The air matress and my ground carpet were a total write off, but I was able to save my clothing...
Twice. Twice in one week! Now, if I could only get the sober girls to throw themselves at me like that, I'd have it made. One of my squires says I am inflicted with "White Knight Syndrome". I guess he's right.
I had to work at noon, so I packed as quickly as possible. It was an hour and a half ride, home for a shower and a half hour nap, and then off to work for 12 hours. It was the longest 12 hours of my life... but I made it.
That pretty much sums up the weekend. It was filled with happy moments, grief-stricken moments, and not much sleep in between.
If there's any moral in all this, I would have to say it is: Enjoy your friends every moment that you are able. And tell them that you love them. Let them know.
Oh, yeah. And I'm the eternal nice schmuck.
The weekend did not start off too terribly well, as I had to work at the bar Friday night. This was the first home game of the season, with a brand new coach, and things promised to be busy. The bar manager knew over a month ago that I needed the weekend off, but insisted that I work the Friday eve. While I really wanted to be with my friends, I was lamenting over the small fortune I'd be losing, so I ventured forth once more into the breach. Nothing much to really report, other than being busier than an insert your favorite busy cliche here.
I finally finished my normal cleanup duties, and then my extra "getting ready for a home game" duties, and headed off for the event, at 4:45am.... It's amazing how fast the trip actually goes when there is not a soul on the road but myself. I made great time. Too great, in fact. I arrived an hour before the gate reopened, so I headed a little further down the road looking for a quick place to grab breakfast. I finally found a BK Steakhouse (Burger King, for the unhip), choked down a cardiovascular nightmare, sipped some swill that I won't even pretend to be coffee, and headed back to the event site.
Gate was open, and after chatting with some old friends for about 15 minutes, constantly insisting that I had an important meeting with a tent and a pillow, I headed for the reservations hall. I was informed that since I wasn't pre-registered, and was paying cash, that I'd have to come back at 8:00, when the cash box was due to arrive. I should've taken this as a sign.... Oh, well, the long nap I intended would keep for another hour, I suppose.
I headed down to the encampment to unpack the truck. There was my tent, set up in the front of the camp. Good squires! I'd be able to register and head directly to go, collect 200 z's. I grabbed my box of garb and lugged it inside the tent. The empty tent. The terribly empty, no bed containing tent. The no fan included for the blazing hot weather tent. Bad squires! Oh well. I got unpacked and headed back out to reservations. The cash box was in (yay) so I paid my fees and headed back to camp. The air mattress got thrown in the tent in my absence, along with an air pump, so I filled it up in time to decide that there was no way in Hades that I could sleep in that oven. I stole a squire's tent, complete with fan, and managed to catch a much needed 4 hours.
Upon awakening, I showered and got ready for the grand processional. Being a Baron means having duties, so I accept this fate. All of representatives of the groups of the Kingdom were lined up in their proper order, and we proceded to...wait. Somehow, three of the four Barons of the Kingdom ended up together. We decided that there must be a baron magnet around. We then wondered what a group of barons should be called. Considering the...um....gross tonnage of the barons assembled, we came up with "Beef". A group would be a "Beef of Barons". The Baronesses, while not gathered (no magnet), were determined to be a "Bevvy", as there was no way in Hell any of us were going to call them Beefs. The procession started and we were on our merry little way. During court, one of my squires was called forth. He and his partner had won the joust tourney earlier. Now, squires? When your knight, who had been sleeping during the tournement, asks you "How did the fighting go?", and you won the list, you do not reply "Okay."
After court, we headed back to camp to unwind, have dinner, and commence to party like it's 1299.... Normally, the big parties end up in our camp, but there were so many other activities that we skipped that part. There was Thorstenn's vigil, and the Associates Party and the Peers Party. I spent time with Thorstenn, imparting my sage wisdom as a knight to an almost knight. Then it was time to head over to the Peers Party (though I'd seriously considered crashing the Associates Party just for fun...). The group was small, but jovial. After some socializing, we decided on a theme for the party. It was: Ham, Eclair, Beer, Breastesses. One had to eat a chunk of ham with an eclair, take a big chug of beer, and kiss Mistress Melesse's breasts (only the exposed upper version....it was a silly game, but a clean one, mind you). I don't recall how this actually got started, other than a couple of us actually trying the ham and eclairs together, on a dare. Not really all that bad. Not great, mind you, but not that bad. The last part got added when my squire stole my idea and crashed the Peer Party. We made him do the routine, adding the beer and breasts part, for extra embarrassment. I think it was all Sir Bron's idea. He's such a troublemaker. My squire did the rest, but balked at the breasts. Squires.... Anyway, that was about all the excitement I could stand for one evening, and the 4 hours of sleep weren't cutting it, so it was off to bed for me.
Sunday started off with one of my squires nagging me to go see Dr. Bill (a SCAdian who happens to be a chiropractor). My neck had been bothering me for about a week, and the good doc happed to have his tools with him. I lazed around for a while, not wanting to venture out into the weather, which was, I believe, about London Broil setting. After enough nagging, I headed out to find the right cabin. The doctor was in, and worked on my neck, and also did his magic to my shoulder, which has been messed up for a long time. I felt like a million bucks, while it lasted anyway. The neck is still fine, but the shoulder only lasted about 6 hours, at which point it hurt even worse. I don't blame Bill, mind you. It didn't really hurt worse, but after feeling no pain, for the first time in a long time, when the pains came back, it felt like it was worse than ever. I suppose one just gets used to living in pain... I'll have to make another appointment. I'm sure that after more treatment, the pain just may go away for good. Wouldn't that be nice?
There were several tournements on Sunday, and I got to play "hero" by running down to the feast hall and picking up a box of popsicles to distribute to the melting horde. They were a much needed treat.
Sunday turned sour when it was discovered that a friend's husband had died suddenly, and she had to be rushed away from the event. I felt miserable for her, and also for her friends (and his), who were all devasted.
The day took an even bigger turn for the worse by my discovering that another dear friend is fighting cancer. She is a strong woman, and bound and determined to win this battle, and I know that she can, but it still hit home pretty hard. I've only known her, since, like, forever, so the news tore me up fairly badly.
Since our plans for dinner had fallen through (see earlier post regarding the psycho hose beast), Goldstar invited us over to dinner. They had plenty of food and needed to get rid of it, and we were all more than willing to help out. They had pork, and steaks, and venison. Very yummy. Thanks, guys, for your hospitality. Sorry that I wasn't much company at that point, but I was feeling pretty low.
Some of the event crew came by our camp and asked if we'd help clean up the dining pavillion after feast, which we readily agreed to do. That was probably the biggest highlight of the weekend - watching the incredible amount of folks who showed up to help. The place was cleaned and packed in no time. The best part was watching the big, round, white tables roll their way uphill in the dark. The rollers themselves could not be seen, just large white tablets marching across the field. It was the march of the giant Trimarian aspirin....
After the cleanup, a couple of us decided to check on some friends who were grieving over the death, and made sure they were doing all right. As a bit of mood lifter, a pinata was provided. Nothing makes you feel better than beating the snot out of a tissue paper zero....
Afterwards, I wandered back to my camp, as I didn't feel much like carousing. I was just in the mood to sit at "home" and enjoy a beer or twelve. During this time, a visitor to our camp came home, well into her cups. I attempted to steer her toward her own tent, but she insisted that she wasn't going to sleep alone. Here we go again! Twice, in one week! I told her that she wouldn't be alone, and could sleep in my tent, and managed to get her there, with quite a bit of swaying. I got her plopped down onto my air mattress, and she was out cold in seconds. I went back outside and rejoined the group. They insisted that I should be canonized... but don't you have to be dead for that? No thanks.
Everyone was worried about where I was going to sleep, but it wasn't a big issue. There were a couple of spare tents around, as well as the one belonging to Miss Inebriated, so I would be just fine.
Well, that really wasn't much of an issue anyway. After I while I heard gurgling noises from my tent. Visions of Jim Morrison filled my head, so I rushed in to look after her. Sure enough, she was lying on her back, and, um...., ridding herself of the excess alcohol. You know, the technicolor yawn. She was vomiting, okay? I managed to get her rolled onto her side and held her there while she continued to dump the contents of her stomach all over my tent. She finally stopped and passed back out. Well, that's inaccurate, as she never really came to. After that, I was too fearful for her to leave her alone, so I sat down beside the air mattress and proceded to watch her, all night. She did get sick again, but was able to at least sit up for this one. The morning brought one hung-over little girl.... The air matress and my ground carpet were a total write off, but I was able to save my clothing...
Twice. Twice in one week! Now, if I could only get the sober girls to throw themselves at me like that, I'd have it made. One of my squires says I am inflicted with "White Knight Syndrome". I guess he's right.
I had to work at noon, so I packed as quickly as possible. It was an hour and a half ride, home for a shower and a half hour nap, and then off to work for 12 hours. It was the longest 12 hours of my life... but I made it.
That pretty much sums up the weekend. It was filled with happy moments, grief-stricken moments, and not much sleep in between.
If there's any moral in all this, I would have to say it is: Enjoy your friends every moment that you are able. And tell them that you love them. Let them know.
Oh, yeah. And I'm the eternal nice schmuck.
posted by Turtle at 10:33 PM
4 Comments:
Sorry your weekend wasn't better. =( Mine was much better than I thought it was going to be - MUCH better. But I didn't get to spend time with everyone I wanted to. Even with a three day weekend and 4 hours of sleep a night, there just aren't enough hours.
A) Yes, you do get used to living in pain. A certain level of pain becomes "normal" and then a day or hour with less feels wonderful. On the other hand, it doesn't take much of an increase in my pain level to bring me to the level of "miserable".
B) You brush off the sober women as readily as you do the drunk ones. I've seen it! Of course, I do the same. I know that the drunk men are too drunk to know any better, and the sober ones are just teasing me.
Poor Turtle!
D
Hey Tortuga,
Quite the Dickensian weekend,eh? Sorry I couldn't make it myself. And if Tasha's who you were talking about I wouldn't worry about her. As I've told her, she's a tough old broad, and it ain't her time just yet. Bummer about the tent, though.
Wihtgar
Yes,it was that kind of a weekend. I got to spend alot of time socializing, when I left the confines of the a/c.
Glad to hear that your squires did real well with the list. I was not able to hear much of court - maybe due to my advancing age (or just lack of paying attention).
Miss Inebriated is sure lucky that you are such a nice guy. I hope that she offered to either clean up your tent or replace the rug & air mattress.
I have passed on to Dr. Bill the pain that you are experiencing. He has told me that he will be answering you. I guess that just means that some office visits are in order. I'm sure that I can drop by while you are there.
For me, it was just plain nice to see my friends. My daily world is kinda small, so when I get this opportunity, I just drink it up.
I'm just glad that you were able to make it.
KA
Nice to see my breasteses get an honorable mention... but thanks for leaving out the pinata Rodney King episode.
Thanks also for the sanctuary in your camp Sunday night. The down time was helpful.
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