Wednesday On The Run.

[arontius]

.....It was a long day at work, but was still hoping to get a laundry list of stuff done at home. Didn't make it a quarter of the way through the list, but at least I didn't throw it away completely. :-)

.....The entire Shipyard is abuzz with both the looming government shutdown and all the proposed changes coming from the GOP. Not all of them will pass, but this has been the year of the 'evil Federal woker who steals from the average American's paycheck', so I think at least some of the changes will be enacted when the dust settles.

.....On Friday we at the Shipyard were considered 'esssential', which meant that if the government went into shutdown, we would still report to work. On Monday most of us were classified as 'non-essential'. Then today we were again classified as 'essential'. I suppose we'll find out for sure on Monday morning when we show up at the Shipyard gate and we're either let in, or told to go home.

.....A two year pay freeze is already in effect. The five year pay freeze is gaining momentum, so most of the experts are telling us to be prepared for it. Others things being discussed are the elimination of our retirement, in which case we would take the funds accumulated and roll them into some private 401K, or equivalent, and the government would cease with their matching funds. Other discussion points are a reduction of medical insurance, raises in the retirement age (again), and other, even less appealling options. Sigh! The landscape is going to be interesting when I get ready to retire in twenty years. But, I suppose on the other hand, it'll be worth consideration to actually leave the Shipyard and work for an organization that fits me a lot more.

.....The only thing that keeps a lot of the Federal workforce in place is the benefits package, and maybe a little security (although that is getting to be less and less of a consideration). Retaining any talent is going to become more and more difficult and any effieciency the government has in getting anything done will go away to where the pay and benefits really are. Hope that someone up there takes that into consideration at some point.

.....Worked on the silk banner this evening. It was actually easier than I thought it would be. We're using a silk 'paint', but it really acted a lot like a dye. I barely brushed the silk and the paint would spread very much like a dye. But even with that the progress was a lot slower than I expected it to be. In about an hour and a half I was able to complete the Pithon only. But I was happier with the yellow (gold) color than I thought I would be. I'm hoping to get the Or chequey done on Friday, and maybe the red bars and background. But we'll see.

.....Last night's Serjeantry discussion turned out better than I thought it would. We had almost thirty people listing into the conversation. All twenty of the hand-outs I had printed out were given to those who wanted them. There was a lot of excitement as well as a lot of good questions asked. I think that we'll get at least a couple of people turning in Letters of Intent at June Faire, maybe upwards of six to eight, which would make me very happy.

.....People accepted the concept of the Quest and the Round Table better than I thought they might have. The very titles beg a certain amount of corniness. But the concepts are solid. The Quest being a person achievement and the Round Table being a forum to provide inspiration to the Populace. People seemed to grok the concepts and become excited.

.....There were a number of people who could not make the conversation last night and I ended up sending out another six copies of the handout today. There are still a couple of bugs to work out, mainly the section dealing with Yoemen, but the rest of it is pretty sound. So here we go. :-)

.....Tomorrow night is the Business Meeting. I sent myself a bunch of notes and will put together our letter sometime during the day. June Faire is the big item on the horizon, and there is a lot of preparation to get done. We have to figure out how were going to best support the Tourney Circuit Tournaments of Sir Raoukinn and Monseignor Talon. Maybe a spiffy prize. Also need to figure out how were going to do our 'progresses' around site, complete with banners and musicians and all the pomp and circumstance we can arrange between now and then.

.....But before then is May Crown. Thankfully, Adelheidi is going to ensure that the encampment is arranged, which takes a burden from us. Eric space has already been reserved for the Baronial Pavilion, but we still need to figure out how were going to get it, as well as our own camping gear, to site. Heather (the van) is currently down and I don't think she is going to be operable between now and May Crown. We may have to rent a 'Tourney-Mo-bile', but we'll find something.

.....Am falling asleep and probably should go to bed.

.....Aaron / Arontius.
.....ow

Comments

[hrollaug.livejournal.com]

"Tourney-Mo-bile"

Em, I will bet you that gas for Lobelia is less then gas+rental on a four person van/suv. We know it has the room and ability to haul the gear/tents plus it gives a place to hide in or shower at

(I just checked actually, they run about $60 to $70 per day, my older sister is going to need to rent one)

[gwen-the-potter.livejournal.com]

I have a proposal for you for a vehicle...email to follow...