PACKING THE NEW TRAILER AND JEANIE'S BIRTHDAY PARTY

 THIS IS ACTUALLY THE POST FOR WEDNESDAY MARCH 24.

 Another shoot completed without to much hassle about my new hours of operation, a good nights sleep. Now it was time to get started with  moving the tools and equipment to the new trailer. I got Junior to round up a couple of his friends and we all got started. I was mostly pointing and instructing, With Jeanie's approval of course.

We took everything out of the Igloo and put it in the Whale. The  Igloo was moved to the back of the new trailer for a test run. Mark one on the wall for our team that worked. 

Next Junior and one of his friends  set the 3 blue bench/cabinets in the Igloo to decide where I wanted to mount which piece of equipment. 

The other guy was helping me take the tools and equipment out of the old trailer and put it in the big tent in case it rained. Good idea, It rained off and on for about 2 days. No problem we were in the dry and so was all the tools, equipment and inventory. We moved the old trailer out of the way and called it a day.

The next morning we set all of the equipment on the benches where I thought I wanted them, then backed off and looked it over. We moved a couple of pieces and and called it good.

I left Junior and the guys drilling and bolting equipment to the benches, while Jeanie and I went to town on a special mission.

It was Jeanie's 51st Birthday. I had planned a Birthday party on the clubs covered patio. We were going  to grill steak and chicken, family  and friends were bringing baked beans, potato salad, other goodies and we were going to have cake and Ice cream.

I wanted Jeanie to pick her own cake. She found a chocoholic's  dream come true.3 layers of  triple chocolate cake with fudge chocolate icing in between and over the out side. They decorated it for us while we finished our shopping.

A happy girl, Birthdays are her favorite holiday. She was not suppose to make it to 15. Today, April 24,2004, she is 51

Some of the family and friends.

We had a fun time at her party but we called it an early night

The shotgun accessories would all be mounted on the 4 display racks, 2 on each side of the new vendor trailer.That was  a given so I could concentrate on the placement of the rest of the stuff.

The next morning I went out to check on the positioning of the equipment on the benches. The guys had done an excellent job, everything was secure. 

The next thing was to figure out how I wanted to load it all in the trailer.  I knew for sure the last thing in and the first thing out was the Igloo. The Igloo was constructed  so that it dissembled into a small space. The benches/cabinets were next to last and the rest didn't really matter.It was beginning to come together.

The display racks were in place without the white tarps behind them. The tarps would be replaced with with wood  when we returned in the Fall. The inside of the trailer would be completed with electrical wiring and lights and the back enclosed  except for an entry door.

Inside at the front would be the enclosed " dirty work"  room ,with an exhaust fan. Sanding the wooden stocks and fitting the rubber Shotgun recoil pads made a big mess. The really big offender was grinding the aluminum  adjustable  butt plate that fit the end of the stock. The air would be filled with tiny particles of aluminum dust. We just didn't have time to finish it all now before we needed to be out of central Texas.

Shell carriers, hull bags ,gloves and many other Shotgun sport" must haves" hanging in the new vendor trailer.

 Shotgun cleaning supplies, If you shoot you have to clean.

Belts, hand towels, sights, goodies and gadgets. Over all I was pleased with the way it all turned out for a temporary fix. I would much prefer to have had it all inside to start with but I could "Make do" for a few months.

Tomorrow: On the road with the new Trailer.

I plan to have a great day, I hope you will join me.

Thanks for checking on us.

Rojo

JEANIE MAKES NEW FRIENDS

 A bright sunny day to start the set up for the shoot. we would be here a total of 12-13 days. This set up and set up again at Waco and  from then on it would be just like old times. Back the trailer in open the doors and go to work. I was looking forward to that.

This would be  the first large shoot I had done since Jeanie and I had been on the road together. I was glad that I had worked a smaller shoot first so I knew what to expect and could plan  for the shoot.

I didn't take in any work while I was setting up and I gave myself 2 days to set up. Before I opened the doors on  first day of the practice shoots ,I made 2 signs.  one that said" I WILL NOT BE OPEN UNTIL 8AM. IF YOU NEED YOUR GUN BEFORE 8 AM PLEASE PICK IT UP NO LATER THAN 10PM THE NIGHT BEFORE."   the second sign said"IF I AM HERE I AM OPEN IF I AM NOT HERE I AM CLOSED"

 Skeet fields at National

I knew this was going to be a shock to some of the more demanding shooters but that was how it was going to be. I didn't have a lot of problems but a few shooters were unhappy with my new hours. Unless it was a very special shooter, special as in friend, I only took in fast high dollar jobs like  installing new recoil pads. Adjustable combs,In stock recoil reducers and Barrel polishing.

Jeanie was being Jeanie, she was up and down vendors row meeting people and being a ray of sunshine. I set her up a corner in the Big tent and she had fun looking after the the tent sales.

She was a lot better than I was with the ladies who were just shopping. She just about doubled my candle and lotions sales. I bet you never thought of buying candles and lotions at a shoot did you. 

Jeanie didn't know about all the shooting related items but she would drive up to the shop door and ask. The customers all love her wonderful personality and she saved me a million steps.

Not every day was a good day for her. If she had had a recent seizure  or her Arthritis was bothering her, she usually stayed inside Jeane's Bottle which was parked just a few steps away.

I was already learning some very important lessons from Jeanie, I just was not aware of them yet. In that first 8 months that we were on the road together I learned what living life was really all about and how people try to convince themselves they are happy. Had it not been for Jeanie coming into my life, I would have done just exactly what I said I would do, fall over dead in that shop trailer.

For the first time that I could remember ,in my adult life , I was really enjoying life. My body did not hurt as bad and I enjoyed things that I had never seen before.... they had been there all the time. More on that later... back to the shoot.

I was not aware that seldom does it thunder in Orange County. We were about 1/2 way through the shoot when one of the Texas Spring thunderstorms with hail hit us. Jeanie was scared to death, I was trying my best to reassure her we were safe and that we would not be blown away by a Tornado. It was a pretty good thunderstorm with lots of thunder and lightning. The hail  got up to about the size of a quarter but only broke one clearance light on Jeanie's Bottle.

Jeanie suffered the most damage, she had a seizure. After The wheelchair wreck on Halloween '94 she  would usually have 1-2 seizures every month. I had been taught  how to deal with them and what to do  so she was never in any physical danger. The next day she said she had never been so scared in her life. This is Texas in the Spring and it was going to get worse but she handled each storm better.

The spring flowers were blooming more every day. After supper we would go for a walk and look at the flowers.

We loved to go set under this huge live oak tree and just enjoy nature, the birds, the flower and being together.

Tomorrow: winding down and packing up

I plan to have a great day, I hope you will Join Me

Rojo