CHRISTMAS IN NOVEMBER

Nov 13-14  Yuba City, CA.  Located indoors at the Yuba-Sutter Fairgrounds.  Weather expected to be really nice with temperatures in the 70s.

Friday, November 12

LEFT HOME AROUND NOONTIME.  Headed down 238 to 580 and then 680 in Pleasanton.  Wanted to avoid 880 backups heading into Oakland and 80 slow traffic through Berkeley.  Caught up with 80 over in Suisun and headed East.  However, there was an accident in Fairfield and traffic slowed to a crawl up to Vacaville.  Took Highway 113 near Davis up through Woodland.  Didn't feel like heading up to Sacramento and 99.

ZIG-ZAGGED OUR WAY over to 99 and headed to our motel in Yuba City.  Staying at Palisade Hotel.

AS WE PULLED INTO THE PARKING LOT of the motel,  I saw 3-4 people standing outside smoking cigarettes. I parked out front and went over to check in.  Desklady tells me they don't have any WiFi but then hands me a cable connection for my computer.  That'll work.  I went back out to my van and we unpacked what we needed and headed inside.

As I approached the door, I noticed that there were three guys standing outside their cars doing nothing. Also, there were three teens standing outside swearing at one another.  Wow, what a place.  Dirtbag Motel?  I entered the building and approached the lady at the desk.  "This place reminds me of Home Depot," I said to her referring to the people standing outside.

IT WAS NOW AROUND 3:00 and time to head over to the Fairgrounds to begin setting up.  We left the motel and headed over toward Highway 20.  Instead of turning right, I continued across and saw a Chipotle and made plans for coming back and picking up some Burrito Bowls from there for dinner.  Circled around the block and drove over to the Fairgrounds.

I HAD BEEN TOLD THAT I would get a space near one of the doors because I explained that my wife and I were not too physically abled to cart our things a long distance.  Yah, right.  Near a door, uh uh.  NFW.  Parked near one of the several entrances and had to haul in some 80 feet which was about as far away that you could have been.  I guess you trust promoter's about as much as you do a used car salesman.

IT TOOK ME SEVEN trips back and forth with my dollie to get my stuff inside.  No easy task, for sure.  We basically set up the canopy and grids and tossed everything else inside and covered up the front.  The three other sides were completely gridded off.  We decided to get out of there because it was beginning to get dark.  Franklin St. is directly in front of the Fairgrounds and runs down to Gray Ave. where out funky motel is located, but I wanted to go down Highway 20 (Colusa Ave.) in order to get to Chipotle's.  However, I wasn't able to find a good cross-street to cut over on and the more dark it became, the more lost I got.  Somehow, I got over to 99 and headed in the wrong direction and had to turn around and head over to Colusa Ave.  I managed to find Chipotle's and then headed down Gray Ave. to find the motel.  Somehow I passed it and had to turn around to look for it.  When I did locate it, I didn't see any kind of lit-up sign outside which did indeed make it difficult.

THIS HAS TO BE ONE OF THE WORST DAMM MOTELS I have stayed in.  Noisy neighbors. People standing around out in the parking lot trying to look like Mexicans standing out in front of Home Depot.  Kids racing up and down the hallway.  Loud TV next door throughout the night and then into the morning.  Low life's next door talking loud at 12:30 keeping people awake.  Car outside playing loud music for half an hour near mid-night.  People constantly standing in front of the entrance smoking cigarettes.  Kids congregating in front of there swearing at one another.  Can hear the water being turned on and off 2-3 doors down. Haven't heard the elephants yet, but I sure as hell have heard the horses go galloping past my room outside in the hallway. Dogs in the rooms.  People of the world, listen to me:  Don't ever stay at this rinky-dink, shit-ass place called The Palisade Hotel.  Looks like I am 0-2 in motels around here.  Stayed at Motel 6 over in Marysville a year and a half ago and that was a nightmare also.

WOW.  ALL THIS AND the show has yet to begin.  Hmmmm.  I just hope you don't spell this weekend as D-O-O-Z-I-E.

Saturday, November 13

BOTH OF US DIDN'T SLEEP WELL.  Was up before the alarm went off at 5:50am.  Headed out of the motel just after daybreak and drive down to the Fairgrounds.  Was under the impression that they opened the doors at 7:00, but we had to wait until 7:30 before we were let in.  We finished setting up around 9:15 and the show 'officially' began at 9:30.

THE WEATHER WAS REALLY NICE and we had some sun for a good part of the day until it clouded up in the PM.  Temps in low 70s.  Great.  Not a chance of rain (but watch out next weekend).

SALES WERE SLOW DURING THE AM, PM, MM, SM, LM.....  all day long for us.  Dozed off many times.  There were a few vendors who made some money and even some who caught the fee.  Us? OMG.  We had only 3 sales all day long.  Miserable.  Talk about being in a slump or just picking these real winners or should I say, LOSERS.  No money from the top of 99 all the way to Bakersfield, at the bottom. 

PICKED UP SOME CARAMEL KETTLE KORN and it was pretty good.  Probably the best I've had at a show.  I had it 3-4 times during the year but not as good as this.  My favorite Kettle Korn booth was in Tyson Wells where they sold a couple dozen different flavors.  My favorite?  Cheese.

WENT OVER TO THE 'SNACK BAR' and picked up a cheeseburg and a hot dog.  They were okay.  Cooked just right.  Tried to order one of their baked potatoes but they didn't have any left (1:30pm)  They said they only brought 24.

THIS SHOW CONSISTED mostly of ladies who seemingly had spent much of their time making towels, jewelry and other crafty items and sell at these inexpensive shows.  A number of us had traveled a bit and sold every weekend at different shows.

THE GOVERNOR HAS ANNOUNCED THAT the state is changing the name of Highway 99.  In Nevada, many years ago they changed the name of one of their highways to the Extraterrestrial Highway because of the supposed UFO activity surrounding Area 51 and the town or Rachel.  Well, Highway 99 is now to be known as Obese Highway, due to the medical conditions and appearance of many citizens that occupy the cities and towns along this route.

THE SHOW WAS SUPPOSED TO END AT 4:30, but I was surprised to see people covering up at 4:00.  I rushed over to my booth and we covered up the front again and it was bye-bye Waslewski.  Thank gosh.  We got out of there by 4:15 and as we were exiting, I was surprised to be following about a dozen people out the door.  They were leaving so quickly you'd think that somebody had yelled 'Fire'.

GLAD TO MAKE IT OUT OF THERE before it got dark.  Lot easier to see.   Headed straight down Franklin over to Gray, where our motel was located and drove across Colusa Ave. to the same area where Chipotle's was located and we got out 'dinner' at Togo's.  #16 and a Chinese Chicken Salad, which we took back to Dirtbag Motel.  Hopefully, we'll have new neighbors who are more considerate and have a quiet night.  Yah, right.

HAD CONVERSATIONS WITH A NUMBER OF VENDORS who did last year's event and was told that it wasn't very good.

Having a rather quiet evening inside the motel and hopefully we will not have any cows, horses or loudmouths tonight.  Need some sleep.

PLANNED OUT MY STRATEGY for Sunday and hopefully I'll be able to position my van on a side street near one of the entrances early morning. Only a few spots where I could park and have nobody directly behind me so I would be able to load in my grids.  Stay tuned.  Could be rough trying to get out of there.  Looks like 7 hand-truck trips in and at least that going out.  Show ends at 4:00, I believe and I hope to be gone by 5:00.  We'll see about that.  I am certain that those people will be wanting to fly out of there as soon as possible.

Sunday, November 14

PRETTY QUIET HERE AT THE MOTEL.  Went around last night and tied up and gagged all the horses, cows, kids and the loudmouths.  Put 'No Smoking' signs outside along with 'No Loitering' and 'No Trespassing,'  Put speed bumps out in the hallway and glued all the doors shut. Cut off the TV service to all the rooms except for mine and turned off all the water.  Didn't have to put roadblocks out in the street because the passing cars weren't too noisy.

MY INTERNET SERVICE went out last night around 11:00 and I still did not have it this morning.  So be it!! 

LEFT THE MOTEL JUST BEFORE 8:00am and drove around and got some gas.  Arrived at the Fairgrounds and my first few choices for parking spots were already taken.  Can you believe that?  I wanted a spot as close to an entrance as I could get and to also have enough room to open the back door and slide my grids in.  Had to park across the street.

THE SHOW STARTED AT 9:30 so we had wait around in our booth for about an hour.  Very few people in the morning and not too many during the afternoon.  Yet another lousy day for sales.  I guess that the people just did not come out.  What do they do in Yuba City on a Sunday?  They sit at their dining tables and eat and eat and eat.  So many families are dramatically overweight.  Need to get some exercise.  Get a life.

PICKED UP A BAKED POTATO at the Snack Bar.  It was pretty good and it ranks up there with the best 2-3 I have ever had at a show.  What more can I say about a baked potato.

I GUESS A GOOD SHARE OF THE VENDORS didn't make very much money.  These people try to put on a good event here and the citizens of this town could care less.  Event is free.  You know what free means?  You didn't have to pay.   I am just so sick and tired of these kids asking their parents if they could get something and the response is 'you don't need that,' 'you already have one,' 'I don't have any money,' and on and on and on.  People come over and grabbed my wooden snakes and waved them in one another's face and would just laugh 'hee heee heee.'  Same thing with my other items.  This place is ridiculous.  Felt like we were just there to entertain them.

WE BEGAN PACKING AT 1:00 and somehow I was able to move my van over to a parking spot next to the driveway.  I left enough space behind so I could open the back door and get my grids in.  Apparently, two of the vehicles that were out on the street were moved into the driveway leaving some good spots open.  We slowly began packing and I began wheeling our things out to the van.  We were out of there at 3:57.  Very rough weekend.  We took a loss.  Do you think that we shall return?  Not in this lifetime.

There were some 60 vendors at this event and many of them were local individuals who packed up their cars and drove a few miles to earn some extra money selling a number of Arts and Crafts items they had made over a period of time.  These people don't really expect to make much more than a couple hundred and if they do several local events, they can come up with extra cash to pay bills, etc.  There were others who do shows every weekend and virtually rely on the income from events such as this and expect to make more than the local A&C people. This was pretty much a fill-in show and the cost of the booth space throws up a red flag.  Very few vendors were able to meet any financial goals they were expecting as sales came up short.  Hours passed away as vendors sat motionless in their booths dearly hoping that somebody would purchase their goods.  People came to the event out of curiousity and generally they were not in a buying mood and just amused themselves with the products they saw.  Kid's played with anything they could get their hands on while their parents pretty much denied their wishes.  A lot of the people had that mean, disinterested look on their faces as they walked up and down the aisles with no intentions of buying.  Vendors wondered why their products are not selling and it became quite frustrating and brutally agonizing. Too early for many of these people to be buying gifts.