Post-event exhaustion
Jul. 12th, 2009 10:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
norsegirlThe sleep deprivation is a bit worse than usual. We brought all the right things and still it didn't help. Dallas weather sucks ass. The temperatures are nearly the same as Austin, but the effect is very, very different. I have never felt so sticky and uncomfortable in my life. I can normally sleep through anything, especially if I'm tired. And while pregnancy has made sleep a little harder to come by, I can honestly say that had nothing to do with it this weekend.
We had our fantastic canvas pavilion, which we set up in the shade. We were sleeping in a raised bed on a futon with nothing but sheets (no hot, sticky sleeping bags) and had the back flaps of the tent cracked open for ventilation (because no one can see in past the headboard anyway) and there were no bugs (that was such a blessing) other than ants, which were not the biting variety so I ignored them. And still, if I got even an hour of sleep over the course of the evening, I would be shocked. I didn't sleep great last night despite really needing it because Jason came to bed but then sat there and read for like 4 hours?!?! WTF? It's not like he slept the night before either. Sleep or get out man! A little after midnight I finally got fed up and informed him that those were his choices and he finally turned out the heat-generating, sleep-disrupting light. I suppose he wasn't as tired because as usual, I did the bulk of the driving while he napped. Whatever, he had to set up the tent, pack and unpack the car so it's pretty fair. Lots of people had AC hooked up to their tent. I can't help but feel that must have been expensive, ineffective, bad for the environment and god damn but it was a lot of loud, ambiance-destroying humming. If the pregnant Canadian can deal with it, so can the rest of you.
Thanks to the weather I showered 3 times in 24 hours, with my bra and undies on so I could take some of the cool and wet with me. I spent most of Saturday in an over-air-conditioned hall (which I don't think helped, too much of a shock to the system) and still was completely unable to function the second I stepped back out into the heat. William hates the site, I think because it lacks ambiance. But he also lives near enough that he's not camping. The camping facilities were fantastic. Lots of shade to set up in. Plenty of flat ground. Plug ins and water taps everywhere. Showers with no line-ups and plenty of hot water to go around. The only downside was that the ground was so hard that we had to stake our tent with a sledge hammer and then it took 2 hours to dig/pull the stakes out. That's by far the slowest, most miserable tear-down we've ever had to do, and of course we did it at the hottest part of the day because the hounds were overheating and I'd had enough event, but the rest of the event was nice enough to make up for it.
The event itself was okay. Low-key and not particularly memorable, but it served the purpose of getting us out of the house and doing something different for a day. It's strange not yet having a bunch of friends or word-fame. I'm used to being "on" for every minute of an event. Either because someone I am friends with is chatting with me, or someone is asking me how to do some A&S thing, or I'm participating in something like fighting or eating feast and thus socializing with strangers. It's odd to be completely alone and completely isolated socially in a room full of people. I'm okay with it because I just don't have the energy to be "on" right now, but it's still odd.
Spent part of my day hanging with Violetta. I really like her. Chatted with Stefan of Stefan's Florilegium fame. I also really like him, he's pretty fun and friendly. And of course catching up with William again. Met someone at gate who had visited Perth and was friendly with people down there, so that was a bit odd and funny. The SCA really is a small world.
Arrived on Friday in part to attend and participate in the bardic circle. After some searching gave up without finding it and went to bed. In the morning I took a class on viking-ish boxes that can be made simply and cheaply from a single 1x12x12 and a bit of hardware and am feeling really inspired by that. Once I get some clothes on I'll probably be off to Lowe's for supplies. Wandered around the merchants but didn't feel inspired to even touch anything much less pull out my wallet. There was a potter with some lovely work, but if I bring home more pottery Jason's going to kill me, and even I am realizing we've run out of storage for it. Took a class on sari-wrapping which was also really great, though awkward as hell for me with the belly (and I was using my palla because I didn't think to bring a sari). Then I taught my fingerloop braiding class to a surprisingly small number of people (I've never had that class not sell-out, so I'll probably have to find something new to teach here) and had a nice lunch (perfectly cooked shrimp skewers which took forever but were well worth the wait). Then it was back to camp to try to keep beagles cool (they were unimpressed with my pouring water on them and probably would have been fine even if I hadn't, which just annoyed them more) and wrestle with the tent stakes for 2 hours (we can normally tear down from the point we were at there, with everything but the dog cage and tent already packed, in about half an hour, so it was excruciating) and finally head for home where we treated ourselves to spinach masala and mago lasis for dinner instead of cooking and didn't unpack the car until this morning. Beagles had a pretty good time as they got lots of walks and the site was filled with squirrels. Had to apologize a few times for early morning barks when they spotted a squirrel on the other side of the camp, but we silenced them after only one or two barks so no one seemed to mind. By noon they were so tuckered out from walking and heat that squirrels were practically dancing in front of the tent and they still wouldn't lift their heads enough to woof. They're still in that mostly-unconscious state right now. I think we might take them to the dog park tonight and wear them out even more.
We had our fantastic canvas pavilion, which we set up in the shade. We were sleeping in a raised bed on a futon with nothing but sheets (no hot, sticky sleeping bags) and had the back flaps of the tent cracked open for ventilation (because no one can see in past the headboard anyway) and there were no bugs (that was such a blessing) other than ants, which were not the biting variety so I ignored them. And still, if I got even an hour of sleep over the course of the evening, I would be shocked. I didn't sleep great last night despite really needing it because Jason came to bed but then sat there and read for like 4 hours?!?! WTF? It's not like he slept the night before either. Sleep or get out man! A little after midnight I finally got fed up and informed him that those were his choices and he finally turned out the heat-generating, sleep-disrupting light. I suppose he wasn't as tired because as usual, I did the bulk of the driving while he napped. Whatever, he had to set up the tent, pack and unpack the car so it's pretty fair. Lots of people had AC hooked up to their tent. I can't help but feel that must have been expensive, ineffective, bad for the environment and god damn but it was a lot of loud, ambiance-destroying humming. If the pregnant Canadian can deal with it, so can the rest of you.
Thanks to the weather I showered 3 times in 24 hours, with my bra and undies on so I could take some of the cool and wet with me. I spent most of Saturday in an over-air-conditioned hall (which I don't think helped, too much of a shock to the system) and still was completely unable to function the second I stepped back out into the heat. William hates the site, I think because it lacks ambiance. But he also lives near enough that he's not camping. The camping facilities were fantastic. Lots of shade to set up in. Plenty of flat ground. Plug ins and water taps everywhere. Showers with no line-ups and plenty of hot water to go around. The only downside was that the ground was so hard that we had to stake our tent with a sledge hammer and then it took 2 hours to dig/pull the stakes out. That's by far the slowest, most miserable tear-down we've ever had to do, and of course we did it at the hottest part of the day because the hounds were overheating and I'd had enough event, but the rest of the event was nice enough to make up for it.
The event itself was okay. Low-key and not particularly memorable, but it served the purpose of getting us out of the house and doing something different for a day. It's strange not yet having a bunch of friends or word-fame. I'm used to being "on" for every minute of an event. Either because someone I am friends with is chatting with me, or someone is asking me how to do some A&S thing, or I'm participating in something like fighting or eating feast and thus socializing with strangers. It's odd to be completely alone and completely isolated socially in a room full of people. I'm okay with it because I just don't have the energy to be "on" right now, but it's still odd.
Spent part of my day hanging with Violetta. I really like her. Chatted with Stefan of Stefan's Florilegium fame. I also really like him, he's pretty fun and friendly. And of course catching up with William again. Met someone at gate who had visited Perth and was friendly with people down there, so that was a bit odd and funny. The SCA really is a small world.
Arrived on Friday in part to attend and participate in the bardic circle. After some searching gave up without finding it and went to bed. In the morning I took a class on viking-ish boxes that can be made simply and cheaply from a single 1x12x12 and a bit of hardware and am feeling really inspired by that. Once I get some clothes on I'll probably be off to Lowe's for supplies. Wandered around the merchants but didn't feel inspired to even touch anything much less pull out my wallet. There was a potter with some lovely work, but if I bring home more pottery Jason's going to kill me, and even I am realizing we've run out of storage for it. Took a class on sari-wrapping which was also really great, though awkward as hell for me with the belly (and I was using my palla because I didn't think to bring a sari). Then I taught my fingerloop braiding class to a surprisingly small number of people (I've never had that class not sell-out, so I'll probably have to find something new to teach here) and had a nice lunch (perfectly cooked shrimp skewers which took forever but were well worth the wait). Then it was back to camp to try to keep beagles cool (they were unimpressed with my pouring water on them and probably would have been fine even if I hadn't, which just annoyed them more) and wrestle with the tent stakes for 2 hours (we can normally tear down from the point we were at there, with everything but the dog cage and tent already packed, in about half an hour, so it was excruciating) and finally head for home where we treated ourselves to spinach masala and mago lasis for dinner instead of cooking and didn't unpack the car until this morning. Beagles had a pretty good time as they got lots of walks and the site was filled with squirrels. Had to apologize a few times for early morning barks when they spotted a squirrel on the other side of the camp, but we silenced them after only one or two barks so no one seemed to mind. By noon they were so tuckered out from walking and heat that squirrels were practically dancing in front of the tent and they still wouldn't lift their heads enough to woof. They're still in that mostly-unconscious state right now. I think we might take them to the dog park tonight and wear them out even more.
