What happens in Ohio doesn't stay in Ohio

[valis2]

A bullet point review of my meh weekend in Ohio.

• Two ladies were looking at stuff at my booth. They were excitedly chatting away in what I assume was a Chinese dialect. Finally, one of them asks me how much is left on the spool, and I explain. She then gets into a heated debate with her friend. They both continue to look at other stuff, making their way to the other end of my table. The woman still has the spool in her hand. Then she holds it close to her body and they leave, again talking very excitedly.
  
  I had to call to her and ask her to come back and buy the spool. I believe she was actually trying to walk off without paying. I really do.
  
  The price of the spool in question? One dollar.
  
  I wish I were making this up.


• I had horrible insomnia the first night I got there. Y'all can guess that I got there super super late, and I did, clocking in at 1 AM. And then I couldn't sleep. Even though I love having a refrigerator in the room, I hate the noises they make, and this one was really strange-sounding and I had to unplug it. Unfortunately, the heater made a loud pop everytime it cycled, so I still woke up every twenty minutes.


• I went to Jungle Jim's, huzzah! I love that place soooo much. I bought a lot of chocolate and root beer. YUM. I also found this Wild Mushroom Rub that Husband absolutely adores cooking with, so that was time well-spent, even though I felt like warmed-over death as I wandered the aisles. If only I'd been able to shop closer to leaving--I would have bought tons of produce. They have a lot of crazy stuff that you just don't find anywhere else.


• I glutted myself on cable on the second night. It was quite wonderful to wander around the channels and watch bits of this and that. I saw a little of Return to Me, which I always liked, only I nearly had a stroke when the scene came up where David Duchovny's character reads the letter from Minnie Driver's character, because I would swear that it started Dear Doner Family. Now, I admit I need a new prescription, but still. I couldn't keep watching after that. I also watched bits and pieces of PotC III. I love Calypso. And Barbossa. And Davy Jones rocks the house, too. And I adore the different pirate groups. A strange movie, though, considering that it should be shooting for the mainstream.


• The guy next to me was Thai, and incredibly interesting and entertaining. We talked about how American-made goods used to be sought by the whole world--how when he was a kid in Thailand, there was nothing cooler than a pair of Levi's. How expensive it was to buy them there. He bemoaned Converse sneakers being made in China and showed me his with a woeful look, telling me they barely last him three months when they used to last him years. One of my favorite booth neighbors ever.


• I ate at a Mexican restaurant (sylvadin's advice: always treat yourself to a nice dinner while you're away, even if the show sucks, and it's excellent advice). While I was there, I finally finished Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris. I tell you, he has some sort of insight into my head at points, because he really captures...well, there's this line by poet Erica Jong that goes, "For who can hate her half so well as she hates herself? & who can match the finesse of her self-abuse?" And it's so familiar to me, this deep self-unhappiness, that reading his stories is kind of raw. Hilarious, yes, but there's that detest for the cowardly self, the imperfect self, that I can totally understand and empathize with. It's almost painful to read it.
  
  It also makes me wish that I'd kept better notes of the weird stuff that's happened to me over the years, because I honestly think that I could put together some interesting essays. Nothing as hilarious and OMG WOW as these, but sometimes I think I do have some interesting stories from the travels I've done. Unfortunately, some the interesting details have kind of disappeared in my head--I have the worst memory.


• Y'know, if you piss off a customer too much, they never come back. I was talking to a woman who got screwed over by American Express after being a cardholder for fifteen years; she said she will never use their card again. Ever. And she means it. It's been over ten years since they tried to charge her a late fee on a late fee, and she still remembers every detail and still hates them. wow.


• The night clerk at the hotel couldn't get the cardkey machine to work and had to go up and manually let me into the room. I felt a little weird as the door shut, like I was being locked into my robo-cubicle for the night.


• During the insomnia bursts, I noticed two lights on the ceiling that looked like eyes, and then I decided that the hotel rooms came pre-installed with a hibernating alien shut in the wall. Then I was trying to decide if the architect had done it correctly and whether or not they were load-bearing aliens or not, because boy wouldn't that be stupid if they activated the aliens and then the whole hotel came squashing together when they got out of the walls. Yes, I really did think all of this and much much more.


• My emo entry on Friday made a lot more sense when I began my monthly cycle on Saturday. *headdesk* I'm so predictable. Except to myself. I always have these oh noes, nothing will ever be good again feelings the day before.


• Both drives were uneventful except for minor construction. I listened to quite a lot of music, which was great. Did not have much trouble with idjits on the road, which is always super nice. "Sky Blue" by Peter Gabriel was particularly resonating; one set of lines: I'm so tired of all this traveling/So many miles, away from home/I keep moving, to be stable...


• Had a supremely depressing talk with another vendor, who is seriously old-skool, having sold her own line of crafting supplies for YEARS, and has been supplementing it with a different line. She said she'd lost money at the last four shows. Oh god, that scared me so much. She's cut down massively on the shows for next year. There was a vendor there who was closing out his inventory and selling it at cost. Methinks we'll see more of this. The market is too saturated. Still, it drove home the point that I'm doing fewer and fewer shows, and that I have no idea what to replace them with.


• The building was cold, and I was so thankful I remembered that from last time and brought an extra hoodie.


• I don't think I've ever been so happy to come home after a short trip.

Comments

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Oh, I can't sleep on my back, generally. If it's a hotel pillow, it can really screw up my neck. :( And I snore if I sleep on my back. But that's such a great idea, thank you so much! :)

[gypsyjolie.livejournal.com]

you don't travel with your own pillow? Color me surprised.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

I used to, but eventually it just got to be too much of a hassle. I'm trying to pack a little lighter. ;)