The novel is writing itself! Sounds like a great screenplay -maybe a TV series.

I think you hit a "gold mine" of interesting stories from everyone with this particular topic.

they paid me but I can assure you it wasn 't min wage. Non profits enjoy a slippery path from worker to volunteer that private businesses cannot travel
Why do you think we are now rife with NGOs? Dems don 't want to pay their workers min wage, they just want you to pay yours. I 'm actually in a forum right now where the argument is -if you can 't afford to pay your worker a living wage then you shouldn't start a business.

Now that is a really interesting idea. Got to think about a plot arc tying many of these incidences together.

And then there was the guy down on the Colorado River that was employing the wisdom of King Solomon to treat and recover gold from ores. Used the special power of women in the process. Whoop, getting too salacious for this venue. I'll just leave it where the unpaid women chased the guy down in the desert to get what they were due!

Ah Crap! I have an important, property related, family meeting up in Carmel on the 20th of June, and am leaving on the 17th and returning on the 22nd. (I am camping whilst up there.)

Wait. Ya'know: I really would like to meet you. Maybe I can shift my vacation to leave a day later - very late on the 18th. Then, I could invite you to come by Schuyler House on the 18th (and I could leave at about midnight, so I would arrive at dawn and be able to set up camp).

How does that clever plan sound?

Jan

That's a great story john.

This is fascinating.

Why don't you write a novel? The main character is 'you' (cleverly disguised under a different name), and does just about what you actually did. This gives you a venue to relate the tales, under different names, but dodge any unpleasant repercussions because it is 'fiction. You would need to add a main plot arc to tie it all together...

Jan

hey I'm in your neck of the woods June 18-21. can I get a tour of the facilities? :)

I would have loved paying to see you all perform. Winter has done similar work as well.

wow. such an interesting story. you could write a book!

Thanks. It was an incredible group of people. At the time, the British 'equivalent' of Past Times was very low level - people running around in polyester fairy tale costumes, speaking modern English. We pretty much blew them away when we came over in meticulously sewn period garb (some were made from clothes shown in actual paintings), speaking Elizabethian English and trading gossip about the goings-on of the Court of Elizabeth-I.

We gave some seminars and workshops whilst we were over there (1990 and later). The end result is that now Britain has a fine re-enactment community and does not need to import Americans to show them how to present their own history.

Thanks for looking at the photo. (Some of the women's costumes weighted more than my suite of armor did.) It was fun, but hell.

Jan

When I worked for THE major, I always advocated that we get paid in kind. An ounce a day or a 1 pound bar every two weeks would be fine. But, no.

So now, I no longer work for the majors and get paid in kind these days.

She picked up a wooden version of a sword, held it in both hands like a baseball bat, an whaled away on the shield I was holding until her face was red and sweat was dripping.

I was shouting words of encouragement, such as "Smack that bastard!" and "Hit him again." (We were having trouble with the manager of one of our venues changing 'our deal' as soon as we actually got there - an being very unpleasant about it as well. Most people treated us well, but to a few folks, we were just 'scummy hirling entertainers' and they expected to treat us like dirt. Since we were all capable people (a lot of professionals - psychologist, lawyer, upper management, etc) we did not react well to this.) The manager of the troop was/is a very high-caliber person and quite organized (and a Randist); changing our deal in a high-handed (rude) fashion was something that she did not take lightly. I have rarely seen her so angry, but it was quite justified.

I was glad to help.

Jan
(Ed to add more text.)

lucky. sheesh!

you guys are so luckily to live close by ! jealous

Yes unfortunately.

:-)
That's why I like you. You're a REAL gentleman. Mwah!

Those are hard jobs, and I bet you worked in the cold.
I worked in what is probably the largest processed meat packing plant in the US. I started out "pumping hams" (injecting the salt/chemical brine) and making hotdogs. After about 6 months I became the chemist, mixing all of the "stuff" (thats the technical term) that goes into the processing and pumping that around the plant to be used. Chemistry was the least part of my job. I moved about 3 tons of 100lb sacks in a day that had to be thrown up onto a platform and then poured into tall columns to dissolve in water. It was all union, and wasn't to dangerous. They only averaged 5 fatalities a year.

I guessed as much. the Bar owner knew how it was going to go-before you guys even showed up. Part of business

Snow White? I don't kiss and tell... :)

No? :) It was a time with a life of its own. I have many wild stories, I shouldn't tell in public.

how awesome you all look!

I should elaborate a bit regarding the bar bill story. We did drink plenty, but the complete story as I recall it, is that we put out the word we were playing at this particular club and filled the place to standing room only and at the end of the night after the club emptied the club owner tried to cheat us out of our share of the cover charge. That is why the band member that set up the gig told us to load out and move out ASAP. We never worked there again.

hahaha

Thanks.
Me too!