2010 Ukiah Country Pumpkin Fest

Ukiah, CA Oct 16-17. We sold our merchandise at the Pumpkin Fest. You can read more on our website http://www.starvingvendors.com/events_Ukiah_Country_Pumpkin_Fest_2010.html

THE AMAZING MAGNO-MAN. A 52-year old guy came into my booth and began looking at my Fedora's. He took off his hat and removed some kind of skull cap which happened to have around 100 tiny magnets connected to it. "You see, when I buy a hat, I need to be able to fit this inside." I looked at him. I said nothing. I was frozen with sheer amazement. He then grabbed one of my hats and placed his gizmo inside. "What do those magnets do?" I asked him. "They help with circulation," he explained to me. "Ohhhhhh," I said not really knowing just what to say. I was pretty much speechless as I had never seen anybody with magnets attached to their head like this. But then again, this is Ukiah and I guess this is one of those stories straight out of the Marijuana fields of Mendocino County. He wasn't able to find a hat that suited him. Just be sure to stay indoors during a thunderstorm.

Kaiser Health Plan

These people at Kaiser are a bunch of village idiots. My wife and I are retired Postal Workers and had Kaiser coverage under me with the Family Plan. In January, I switched our coverages to individual plans through OPM and received a letter from Kaiser acknowledging this.

Today I found out that they had cancelled my wife's coverage because I had changed coverage. They ignored the fact that she should have been covered individually. I had to make three phone calls (on hold 30-60 minutes each time) to OPM to have them fax the necessary information to Kaiser. I talked to Kaiser again and they told me that they had not received the fax and told me to call OPM again and have them call Member Services. These people are a bunch of jackasses. OPM then called them up and faxed them two more times with coverage info. They said that it would take at least 24 hours. I have had a number of problems with Kaiser over the year's.

I even visited our member services office here in Hayward to inquire why she was cancelled and the lady (a blonde, of course) told me that she couldn't do anything unless I brought my wife down, who is having trouble walking. I don't know how long this will take to remedy, but I have spent all day on the phone trying t take care of this.

In September, one of the doctor's gave my wife a prescription for novolin, which is insulin for dia betics. It said for her to take 30 units per day three times a day, which I figured was wrong because I was told she was to be given 2-14 units based upon her sugar levels. I called several people in Kaiser and they all kept telling me to give her the 30 units - even her personal physican. If I had done that, my wife would probably have died. Kaiser is a big joke. Assholes.

Emerybay Public Market Food Court

EMERYBAY PUBLIC MARKET. Went there for lunch yesterday with some friend's. They have a food court over there with many eateries. Have gotten fish and chips there which were half-way decent, but nowhere near as good as London Fish and Chips in Hayward or Giovanni's in Morro Bay. Had some Japanese Curry previously which wasn't all that great. This time I got my food from Philly's Cheese Steak. I've learned that if the person cooking the steak, etc. doesn't speak with a Joisey Accent, than it's not going to be really good. This one was okay - comparable to one's I have eaten at festivals and fairs. Steak, cheese, peppers, onions and mushrooms were all slopped together. The roll was good and it was grilled. However, it bothers me when these people ask me if I want lettuce on my sandwich. Come on now, who really makes a good PCS Sandwich with lettuce? It just don't belong on any Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich East or West!! As I said before, you need to cook the steak by itself and add the cheese toward the end. Cook the onions and peppers separately and after you have put the cheese and steak onto the roll, you scoop up the O&P and place it on top and then eat it!!! Anyhow, the sandwich was okay and you do not go to this 'food court' for 'fine dining'

There are a good number of food places here and it's a great stopover when you are shopping in the area.

WOODEN ALLIGATOR only $8.95

NEW PRODUCTS. 15-inch Wooden Alligator. Check out our website DandL CREATIONS

We also have many other products to choose from. Puka shell necklaces, clam shell, lovely cowrie shell chokers, semi-precious necklaces and a lot more. Shoulder bags and wrap-around skirts.

Pleae visit our website

New Products for DandL CREATIONS

We have several new designs on our website. Stop by and take a look. Fast service, custom sizes, superior workmanship. DandL CREATIONS. The design on the left is a necklace made with hematite and howlite. Sizes from 13 inch to 24 inch are available. The necklace on the right is hematite with Mother of Pearl.





We offer a great selection of inexpensive shell and semi-precious necklace.

GROUPIES SWARM ROCK DEALER IN MONTEREY

I have written a number of ficticional pieces on my website Starving Vendors and I would like to share them with you.

One time I visited a rock and gem show in Monterey and ran into a dealer there who claimed that he had 'groupies' that followed him from show to show. That was hilarious. I wrote a little story about what this topic.

GROUPIES SWARM ROCK DEALER IN MONTEREY
Monterey, CA As Jason Ringsby drove his beat-up 1978 orange van through the gates of the fairgrounds, he was able to escape from the reaching arms of over 200 screaming girls who had followed him in their cars from his previous show in Sacramento. With many of them running up to the fence and yelling at him, Jason drove past the security guard and proceeded to the space that had been reserved for him to prepare for this weekend's gem and mineral show.He is truly a rock star and noted expert in his field.

Widely known for his awesome stone jewelry and minerals, Jason has a strong following of young ladies who tail him from one location to another buying from him wherever he goes. Occasionally, some of these ladies will strip down in front of his booth and toss their undergarments at him. "I've got 5 boxes of panties and bras," exclaimed Jason with a huge smile on his face. "I'm thinking about putting them on my counter and selling them."

"That's one of the hazards of being a vendor," Jason added. "These girls follow me all over the place. They tail me to my hotels and wait out on the sidewalk for hours just to see me come out. I must sign over 500 autographs every day. My hand is getting tired. I need to take some time off to rest." Jason has been selling his minerals and jewelry at shows like this for the past 28 years and he really can't recall how and why this has been happening to him. "Yah, I've got my groupies following me all over the place. Sometimes these people will camp out for days on end. They stay in motels, their cars. Wherever they can bed down for the night." As for his night life, Jason certainly has no problems and is obviously the envy of the other vendors. "Yah, at the end of the day I usually pick out one or two and they take me to dinner and ... well, you know what I mean."

Ukiah Country Pumpkin Fest

Oct 17-18, 2009. Ukiah, CA Ukiah Country Pumpkin Fest

The crowds came out on Saturday for the parade and there were quite a number of people by closing time at 5:00. Food lines were not very long throughout the day and doesn't appear that they spent a lot of money. Entertainment throughout the day may have kept some of the people there. I was entertained by the assortment of characters coming in out of the woods or wherever they hide during the week. Sales were somewhat okay for me on Saturday and much slower on Sunday. Crowds very small on Sunday and that lends to the low booth fee. Maybe 75 booths and 10-12 food booths. Not much money to go around and quite a number of vendors did poorly. I'll bet they roll up THESE STREETS by 5:00pm during the week. They did an excellent job with the event and placement of the vendors and the food area was good. Booth fees were very reasonable and I am sure that everybody agrees with that.

Please click here to read more about the event

Antioch Holiday Craft Fair

Just received a form letter from the Antioch Holiday Craft Fair (or Contra Costa County Fall Fair or whatever you disguise this pitiful event as). It said:

We have received your application for the 2009 Fall Faire and appreciate your interest in our Faire. We regret to inform you that at this time we will not be contracting your services. Unfortunately, we feel that our product() are not suitable in nature for this event.

I sent in my application for this event five weeks ago and they have taken this long to get back to me. I emailed them several weeks ago and had no response. I called them last week and was told that somebody would return my call. Never happened.

Faced with the possibility of having to find another event, I called them on Monday and was told that they had not received my photos. Been doing this event for several years now and was there for two excruciatingly terrible weekends last year. So, I played the game and sent them in. Today I received the rejection letter - FIVE FREAKING WEEKS AFTER I SENT IN. They are being very inconsiderate toward the vendors and they could care less about us. Their show stinks. It sucks. They've been having it for two three-day weekends for many years and vendors have sat for hours and hours with no sales. So they changed it to one two-day weekend this year and called it by another name. It's a terrible show. The crowds were much smaller last year and if you are located in one of the two 'slow traffic' buildings you are totally screwed. Nobody comes to the last building and few go to the middle building. The show stinks. Not worth the money. They really gave a bunch of vendors the shaft this year.

Meridian Square Fair/Bazaar, San Jose, CA

Vendor's Needed for Meridian Square Fair/Bazaar on Oct 31, 2009 in San Jose. Click on image for more details.

COSTCO CARAVAN CANOPIES

Here's a picture of our COSTCO CARAVAN Alumina CANOPY. It just collapsed, plain and simple. Luckily nobody was around. Please be sure to check out http://www.starvingvendors.com or go to http://www.starvingvendors.com/events_Alma_Heights_CA_flea_market.html to see more images of this durable, reliable canopy.

Telephone Rip Off Calls

Just received a call on my cell phone. Now there are like 4-5 people in this whole wide world that have my cell phone number. They tell me to press number '1' so I did. Kind of curious. The lady told me that she wanted to give me updated credit card rates. I asked her how did she get my number. She then told me that she got it from the Merican Credit Buuu. What? The Merican Credit Buuuu. Oh gosh, are you trying to say "bureau?" Yes, The Merican Credit Buuu. She then started telling me about credit card rates and I then axed (get it?) her how she got my number and she hung up. Her number? Of course I will tell you. 228-209-9560. Did a search on the number and there is a lot of info on this. They are trying to get your credit card numbers, etc. or try to swindle you in some other way, shape or form.

San Juan Bautista Chicken Festival

San Juan Bautista Chicken Festival, Sep 19-20, 2009.

This was not a very good show for the vendors and you know something was wrong when they lowered the booth fee. This town has several events during the year and sometimes vendors do somewhat okay. Such was not the case for this event and we could say that perhaps 3,500-4,200 people attended the event over the two days. Not really a spending crowd and I don't think that this event draws very many tourists. With proper advertising and a 'good drawing card' you could pick travelers off the highway. There were around 60-70 vendors and 4-5 food booths along with a little bit of entertainment, which livened things up a little bit. Perhaps the highlight of the event was the Chicken Dance contest and that certainly isn't going to draw people there. Seemingly a local crowd with maybe people from Hollister and Gilroy. Booth fees were reasonable, but there was a reason for that. Never travel far for this one, I didn't.

Please click on link to read more about the event.

http://www.starvingvendors.com/events_chicken_festival_2009.html