Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Day Job -Day 2

This glorious structure has been the focus of many hours of contemplation today and yesterday.
It is the pump which supplies water to the entire festival grounds. Normally, it is only about 3 feet tall, but this is what it looks like when some one is digging it up out of the ground. Again.
On the first day of the festival, yesterday, the water for the grounds went out. We called the pump company and they sent out a team. The team worked until 2 a.m. and put the pump back in the ground. Then they discovered that it still didn't work. Today another team came out and spent all day re doing what they had done yesterday, and the water is back on. We have some very easy to please campers out here. I have literally heard no complaints about the showers being out. They are amazing!





Here is Main Stage, all finished. It was christened in its new spot today by Switchfoot, in a special kick-off concert. The new location is working out well. People spent all afternoon playing frisbee in the grass by the stage, even during sound checks.
The photo above gives a better idea of the space around the Main Stage. It's a lot of room, which is something we all worried about. Lots of people fit, though.

There are some photos I haven't been able to post, but were the hi light of today. We had some enormous boxes of granola bars donated for our volunteer staff. The boxes are 4 feet by 4 feet by 3 feet high, and full of individually wrapped granola bars. We have two of them out here. It was a lot of work for me getting those bars picked up, stored, and finally delivered to the fest grounds. I wanted to get a photo of my boys in the boxes with the granola bars because I thought it would be cute. We went over and I let them climb in, and started snapping pictures with my camera phone. (How many kids can say they got into a giant box of granola bars?) Another person standing there thought it was adorable, and asked if she could take a picture, and we were all set for some memory making. Then, one of our volunteers came up and started telling my boys to get out of the boxes, horrified that they were in boxes with food.
It was one of those moments of truth. I meekly told the boys to get out of the boxes and we left. I could have, for once in my life pulled out the old, "Do you know who I AM?" line. I hear that line at least once a festival, and I absolutely hate it. I could write a whole post on hearing that line! I have always promised that I would never, ever, use that line on some one, and so I didn't today. Maybe I could have said, "They are individually wrapped in plastic." But I didn't think it would go over well. Honestly, I left the tent and started laughing. What a weird situation. Me, miss by-the-book, getting yelled at for letting my kids be a little unconventional! Must be Cornerstone!

Monday, June 28, 2010

My Day Job

Quick post today about nothing sewing related...
My day job involves helping to organize a big music festival held each year in central Illinois, between a corn field and a soy bean field. We have gotten crowds of over 25,000, but lately with the economy barely chugging along, we get a few thousand less.
It is a wonderful job. For some reason, all of the craziness and chaos is also a lot of fun.
This year, the Main Stage arrived 2 days late. We have one of our biggest shows tomorrow night, and no one is sure that there will be a stage to play on, let alone power, sound, or lights. But I think it will be.
This is the partial Main Stage:

Today is the first day the gates have been open. Already we have been picketed by Baptists who are trying to save our souls from Hell because we listen to Christian rock music. They gave up around noon, which is a pity because I always want to get a photo with them, but each year they go home before I can. Apparently, if you are not saved by noon, you are a lost cause.
Last night at 7 p.m. I drove to the Front Gate and counted 49 cars waiting for the gate to open. It wasn't the longest line I've ever seen, but it was great to see so many people excited about the festival. They all were here 24 hours early.

I have the cutest little golf cart this week. Most importantly, it works.






And, my kids are having a blast with their friends.