I HAVEN'T DONE A SHOW IN FIVE (YES 5) WEEKS! I think it has been about 15 years since I went five weeks without a show. So naturally I popped out of bed at 5 a.m. this morning for the Orland Park show, very excited for the show. I normally wake up very slowly at 6 a.m. I was out the door today around 6:15 a.m. There was a slight drizzle. I stopped at the O'Hare Oasis for some Starbucks. Just south of O'Hare the rain started to pick up. When I reached the Civic Center parking lot in Orland Park it was a flat out downpour.
I pulled up by the back door stopped and observed that many dealers were sitting in their cars. It looked like they were waiting for the rain to let up before loading in. I put on my Corona baseball cap and ran into the Civic Center to get a cart. There were a couple of drenched dealers by the door, waiting for the rain to let up before continuing to load in. I just figured, what the hell, my cards are safely protected from the rain in plastic bins. I am going to load in during the downpour. I was not protected in anyway except for the Corona hat. I got absolutely soaked, head to toe. There were pools of water on top of each bin. I dumped the water out into the drinking fountain. Though quite a bit of water followed me into the room. I had puddles in front of my tables.
Everybody was drenched. It was the most ugly load in I have ever witnessed. The worst part was the cranked-up air conditioning combined with soggy clothes made it feel like it was 20 degrees below zero in the room. I was freezing! Froze all day. It is now 6 p.m. as I write this and my socks are still wet! I'm still cold!!
It took me forever to set up today. I don't know if it was the rain, cold, or maybe I just forgot how to set up after missing five weeks of shows. Sales were painfully slow early on. There weren't a whole lot of customers in the room. Reports started to come in that roads were closed all around the Civic Center due to flooding. At one point, the room started to buzz and ding with cell phone weather alerts. I was worried it was a tornado warning. Is there a basement or someplace in the Civic Center we can take shelter? Luckily, or unluckily, depending where you were, it was just a flood warning.
I pulled up by the back door stopped and observed that many dealers were sitting in their cars. It looked like they were waiting for the rain to let up before loading in. I put on my Corona baseball cap and ran into the Civic Center to get a cart. There were a couple of drenched dealers by the door, waiting for the rain to let up before continuing to load in. I just figured, what the hell, my cards are safely protected from the rain in plastic bins. I am going to load in during the downpour. I was not protected in anyway except for the Corona hat. I got absolutely soaked, head to toe. There were pools of water on top of each bin. I dumped the water out into the drinking fountain. Though quite a bit of water followed me into the room. I had puddles in front of my tables.
Everybody was drenched. It was the most ugly load in I have ever witnessed. The worst part was the cranked-up air conditioning combined with soggy clothes made it feel like it was 20 degrees below zero in the room. I was freezing! Froze all day. It is now 6 p.m. as I write this and my socks are still wet! I'm still cold!!
It took me forever to set up today. I don't know if it was the rain, cold, or maybe I just forgot how to set up after missing five weeks of shows. Sales were painfully slow early on. There weren't a whole lot of customers in the room. Reports started to come in that roads were closed all around the Civic Center due to flooding. At one point, the room started to buzz and ding with cell phone weather alerts. I was worried it was a tornado warning. Is there a basement or someplace in the Civic Center we can take shelter? Luckily, or unluckily, depending where you were, it was just a flood warning.
The Civic Center has a ton of windows. From most every angle, you could see hard rain smashing against the pavement outside. It rained and rained and rained. I chatted, chatted and goofed around with Mark, Jim, and Willie. Then some customers started to talk about flooding in the parking lot. They said the water was up past the car doors. I fled out the back door. A good 10 cars or so were half-way under water. The parking lot was a lake! I have never seen that before. Thankfully, my car was okay. Other guys said they had a ton of water on the floor of their cars. They took off their socks and shoes and waded through the water to move their cars to safety.
Needless to say, slow, slow sales all morning. By late morning, a new group of customers arrived with more reports of road closures due to flooding. Joel said he got stuck in water on the road and had enough water in his car that he needed a bucket to bale it out. He quickly purchased a few cards then left to take his car to his mechanic. He said the water was affecting his engine. I hope your car is okay Joel! Rick said it was raining so hard that he initially turned around and went home then waited for the rain to let up before coming back to the show. I really appreciate everybody's efforts in attending the show. I know it was difficult to get there today. Thanks guys!
I actually ended up with okay sales. Nothing special but the sales disaster I figured was going to occur was safely averted. On the buying front, I picked up all sorts of stuff. A 1957 Topps rookie Mazeroski and a rookie Kubek. Mark hooked me up with Seth from Indy who had a couple of Goudeys for me. Thanks guys! I picked up some really cool 1960 Fleer Football strips that were cut from a full sheet. I got all sorts of commons like '62s and '64s. I real nice haul. The rain stopped in the afternoon and all the water in the parking lot dissipated. I went for ribs with Mark and Larry at the Patio. I love that place!! Those ribs are awesome!! That was a great way to end a crazy day.
This just happens to be one of my patented double-bill weekends. I'm heading to Milwaukee tomorrow for the Gonzaga Show. I've got recently reloaded binders from 1960 and 1977 baseball along with 1967 Philadelphia football. I also have all sorts of new stuff in my display cases including quite a few new 1940 Play Ball and 1953 Topps. I hope it is a bit dryer in Milwaukee and that we have the usual excellent turn out!! Come on out to the Gonzaga show!!!
Needless to say, slow, slow sales all morning. By late morning, a new group of customers arrived with more reports of road closures due to flooding. Joel said he got stuck in water on the road and had enough water in his car that he needed a bucket to bale it out. He quickly purchased a few cards then left to take his car to his mechanic. He said the water was affecting his engine. I hope your car is okay Joel! Rick said it was raining so hard that he initially turned around and went home then waited for the rain to let up before coming back to the show. I really appreciate everybody's efforts in attending the show. I know it was difficult to get there today. Thanks guys!
I actually ended up with okay sales. Nothing special but the sales disaster I figured was going to occur was safely averted. On the buying front, I picked up all sorts of stuff. A 1957 Topps rookie Mazeroski and a rookie Kubek. Mark hooked me up with Seth from Indy who had a couple of Goudeys for me. Thanks guys! I picked up some really cool 1960 Fleer Football strips that were cut from a full sheet. I got all sorts of commons like '62s and '64s. I real nice haul. The rain stopped in the afternoon and all the water in the parking lot dissipated. I went for ribs with Mark and Larry at the Patio. I love that place!! Those ribs are awesome!! That was a great way to end a crazy day.
This just happens to be one of my patented double-bill weekends. I'm heading to Milwaukee tomorrow for the Gonzaga Show. I've got recently reloaded binders from 1960 and 1977 baseball along with 1967 Philadelphia football. I also have all sorts of new stuff in my display cases including quite a few new 1940 Play Ball and 1953 Topps. I hope it is a bit dryer in Milwaukee and that we have the usual excellent turn out!! Come on out to the Gonzaga show!!!
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