Covering the MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Certain things need to be done well in advance. I went to buy a Bat Mitzvah card for 13yo girl this weekend & could barely find them in the store because of all the space devoted to Mother’s Day & Graduation cards. Those cards need to be designed, printed, shipped (multiple times, - from the card designer, possibly to a wholesaler, to the retailer’s distribution center, then to Doggio’s favorite part - the store) all to be there early enough for when people want to buy them, not just on next Sunday morning.

The same is true with calendars. Next year’s calendar needs to be ready well in advance of next year. In our case, that’s late July so that we have them to sell for festival season. (They’ll do one-offs, but tend to not mail them as there’s additional time & expense over just bringing a box of them & collecting cash in person.)

Part of today’s meeting is the vote to choose the pix in next year’s calendar. 13 photos are chosen, with the top vote getter being the cover shot. This always seemed a bit backwards to me. 12 of the 13 photos end up being displayed for a month but the best photo? The best photo only gets seen a few times, until the calendar is hung up. :smack:

Anyway, you know where all this is going, right? You know whose photo was the top vote getter, doncha? (Hint)

Pre-hijack question(s) of the week:
What did you ever win an award for, especially artistic work?
Did you ever win something but want a lesser prize more?

2

I’m first! But I know nothing about planning calendars.

Except for twenty years ago. When my first nephew was three I selected twelve pictures of him and my father, his grandfather, for a personally printed calendar.

I really don’t want to go to work early, but life doesn"t always give us what we want.

3

Second!

4

I’m sure I’ve told this story on the boards before, but, well, I’ve still not forgiven 'em.

When I was a tiny little seedling we lived near the city of Chester (pop. 70,000 ish). One year, the city decided to run a fundraising Christmas card design contest through local schools, with the 10 winners getting, iirc, £500 (a huge sum to a small child in about '91), £1000 for the school, tea with the mayor, and their card printed up and sold throughout the city.

Of course, every school entered, and we spent a happy afternoon scribbling designs featuring city landmarks and various festive designs, and they were duly sent off.

Time went on, and a few months later, my family moved Oop North, and I started at a new (tiny!) school. I’d been there a week when the head teacher (we only had two teachers) came into class looking all happy, and announced to the class that she’d just had a nice phone call about the new girl (moi) from Chester Council; apparently they’d just judged their big Christmas card contest, and my design had been announced as one of the winners!!eleven!!

She said she’d passed on my new contact details to them. So I went home, and waited for my exciting letter.

And waited.
And waited.
It was pretty much Christmas before I realised that it wasn’t going to come. I guess they decided that as I didn’t live in the area when judging took place, I was disqualified. I mean, I suppose it’s fair enough that the city council weren’t going to give money to an out of area school, but it didn’t occur to anyone to check this before phoning a school that was clearly in another county and telling them that one of their 8 year old pupils had just won more money than they’d ever seen in their life…?

It didn’t occur to any of them that, having told said 8 year old that they were going to get something amazingly awesome, that they should probably get in touch, apologise and, maybe y’know, give 'em a book token or something to make up for the mistake?

I was freakin’ 8, the difference between £500 and £5 was pretty much abstract at that point, neither was a sum I was accustomed to dealing with. My income was 50p a week at the time.

I’ve not bothered entering an art contest since.

5

Up, caffeinated, and sheveled. Back to work.

Spidey, congrats on the win. I’ve never won any artistic contests, although people do enjoy mar cartoons.

I watched the game. It gives me a reason to wear my Preds jersey for another week.:slight_smile:

Baker, glad your Mom is improving.

6

Congrats, Spidey!! Are we gonna get to see your winning entry?

Last year for Christmas, my daughter - a wanna-be photographer who does rather well - made calendars for us and her grandparents with photos she’d taken. I was impressed - she has a good eye. I know she didn’t inherit it from me, because I consider a good photo to be any that doesn’t have my fingers in the way…

The only artistical thing I’ve ever won was a cake decorating contest - I think I’ve mentioned it here before. My dad was always very active in the Knights of Columbus and one of the councils was known for its little red beanie. They hosted the cake decorating contest, and I decided to make a cake shaped like their beanie. It wasn’t all that great, but they were properly impressed and I won a stainless steel cake carrier which I’ve now had for well over 40 years.

To answer flytrap’s question in the last MMP: the term I use when referring to my life partner is strictly determined by whimsy - nothing more complex than that.

It’s quite chilly (low 40s!!!) but I saw the beginnings of sunrise, so I guess it’ll be a pretty day. Not that I’ll see it till 3:30. No windows in our end or the building, alas!

Happy Moanday!

7

I know that feeling. This is a disgusting time to be up.

Good news: irking again as of Wednesday.

Bad news: same employer that laid me off a month ago, different project and site (I was subject to recall until 5/30, they called Friday). Less convenient location (and the previous one was bad enough!), and during training phase, I have to be there at 0700. That is the earliest it is physically possible to reach that site via public transit, and I’ll be cutting it closer than I like.

8

I was going to edit my previous post but the hamsters ate it and then I got sidetracked by irk-related thingies.

Makes sense to produce some stuff well in advance but it does irritate me when xmas cards start appearing in the shops almost before summer is over. They (along with mince pies) should not be on the shelves before 1st December as far as I’m concerned. Now, hand over my Grinch hat!

In my job, we tend to be working at least 4 months in advance, sometimes longer. We have just started the university’s formal exam session but we started planinng for the exams back in November. As soon as that’s over (mid-June), we’ll be planning for our new intake of students at the end of September.

9

Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis 55 Amurrkin out and clear with a predicted high of 82 and N.O.S. for the day. The bug man will be here at eight to do his thing. I shall then work on cleanin’ the kitchen and bathrooms. I also need to make a grocery run for some necessaries and will probably go to the liberry as well. I also need to inspire myself to decide on sides to go with cubed steak for dindin. I think this will be enough to keep me outta trouble all day. :smiley:

CupCakes from the last MMP, glad your mom is doin’ better! Here’s hopin’ she does get to go home soon.

Spidey congrats! I have never won anything artistic. The best I can do is draw flies. :smiley:

OK, I need more caffeine and rumbly tummy demands sustenance. I must also purtify so as to receive the bug man upon his arrival.

Happy Moanday Y’all!

10

I’ve never won an award for anything artistic. I bear a long-standing grudge against UNC because they wouldn’t let me submit my very cool cross-stitch of a mosaic skeleton because our school’s bus was five minutes late to the JCL convention. That was the convention that my class bent the rules of the catapult competition and won by using a potato gun. The rules said the potato must be “propelled” a certain distance but no mention of how the propelling was to happen. They changed the rules the next year, but I stand by our justification: if the Romans had potato guns they would have used the HELL out of them.

They didn’t have potatoes in Italy back then anyway. If we’re going to say “be damned” to historical accuracy in one part, we have to damn all parts.

11

My sister’s surgery was bumped back 2 hours. She’s at the hospital alone - that’s something I just don’t get. On FCD’s side of the family, one is never left in the hospital alone. Heck, his folks drove up from FL once when he was having surgery in MD and they sat with me in the waiting area. But this morning, my mom dropped off my sis, and my other sis will be picking her up tomorrow. Can’t wrap my head around that…

Well, back to work. Much to be done.

12

The floods are worse now. A whole area near my family’s house is flooded.

I live in a different (non-flooded) area now, but I’m still worried about my family.

13

I have absolutely no artistic ability so I have never entered, let alone won, any artistic competition.

The sun is shining, the prediction is mid 60s with a bit of a breeze. Perfect weather for me and the horse. The cat is indoor sleeping in a sunbeam. Not our Beamer though.

14

Me too. No skills whatsoever. Last award I got was for refereeing 21 games last fall for the local soccer league (1st!). And I don’t think I have a calendar hanging anywhere in the house…just got out of the habit, what with the dates on the watch and the internets at hand.

Slept in late after staying up to watch “Lucy” (meh) and “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 1” (some stuff I didn’t remember, but still a good flick) by flipping back and forth.

Nothing much planned for today, need to make up a map for the boy’s soccer team, we’re out of town this Saturday and I need to provide directions.

{{Midget}}, hope the water starts going down.

FCM, I was pretty much the same when I had my gall bladder taken out, dropped off and picked up. No big thing.

15

Happy Moonday!

It’s bright and N.O.S. outside, but still chilly.

I’m a bit grumpy this morning. I got enough sleep so I don’t know why, other than the cat has been a pest all morning.

I have no artistic talent, so no awards or anything for me.

BooFae, I had no idea Christmas started before Halloween on your side of the pond as well. It’s so annoying to rush the holidays. I think there should be a law banning all things Christmas until after Thanksgiving.

Nothing special to do today. That is a good thing.

Glad your mom is doing better Baker.
Stay safe from the floods Midget.

16

Oh, I can. If I’m having non-life-threatening surgery, I’d prefer to be left alone. I can amuse myself for hours with a cell phone and a kindle. It’s boring to wait and I don’t want anyone to wait on me in the hospital. When I had knee surgery, I told my mom not to hang around, but to get something to eat and hit the mall next to the hospital!

17

When my husband had his various back surgeries, and his knee surgery, and his gall bladder surgery, there’s no way I couldn’t be at the hospital. During one of the back procedures, I did leave the hospital to get lunch since I knew it would be several hours, but no way could I have gone back home or to work or anything like that. What if something had happened?

May as well fret at the hospital as fret at home - that’s how I see it. But I know the world isn’t wise enough to follow my example. :smiley:

18

My mum (I luurvs her) asked the same question and the surgeon heard and promised to call when he was done, either way. And he did! :eek: And mom got to go through Lord & Taylor, which they don’t have near her in Florida.

That’s how it works with everything!

Hope your sister’s surgery goes well, FCM!

19

Thanks! My sis is 52 (yesterday was her birthday) and the knee she’s having replaced was originally injured when she was a teen. It’s been a long battle to find a surgeon who agreed that she wasn’t too young for a new knee - the poor kid could barely walk and since her job as a bartender required her to be on her feet for hours at a time… well…

She’ll be staying with our mom until they clear her to drive. We shall see how long till she’s dancing on the bar again… :smiley:

20

So much for the surgery. Sis had an infection and they canceled her today. After a course of antibiotics, she’ll try again in a week or so. Poor kid… that sucketh.

Kid - yeah, she’s still 11 years younger than I am. :wink: