|
Viewing 1 - 9 out of 76 Blogs.
Page:
1 |
|
|
|
|
Sunday Nov. 8th temp:22o
Helpers: Kathy, Alex, Ronald, & Myself
Worked on it: 4 hrs
It is a very cold cloudy & windy day as we made our way down to work on maze demolition. Was startled by two huge scary figures, when we opened the shed doors.... :o My Sister inlaw had seen a free sign on the two of them & loaded up up for next year's haunted maze. Sorry.. no I didn't get a photo of them. But, will on my next trip back.
All of the overhead bracing it done & removed. The back half of the maze is still standing, & the outside left wall. Before I left Wednesday, I made sure there was a clear center path. The previous walls, doors, etc. were stacked in piles against the left side of the shed. I continued to unscrew remaining doors so, that they could be stacked to the back side of the shed. At least that was a starting part to getting things put away. I kept unscrewing doors, etc. for the crew to put away. The cold was catching up to us & we needed a short break to warm up again. I went to put my shoes on again before heading back to the shed. A sharp pain ran through my left wrist... ouch!!! I took it a bit easier as we continued to put the doors, wall panels, & scrap wood away. Supper was ready after awhile, then we celebrated my Brother inlaw's belated Birthday. It was hard to believe that the maze was completely taken down & early by two weeks. I still have to sort thru two piles of haunt props & lighting. And also have to haul the 6 large tubs of Halloween stuff back home. With my wrist hurting already, I put that off for another day. So close to being done but, still things to do.
Wednesday Nov. 5th temp: 65o!
Helpers: Myself worked on it: 3 hrs, alone
It's been an overcast rainy on & off day with a high of 70o, wow! I decided to go work on the maze demo. myself. Besides I only have one cordless drill, & can stack panels, etc. to the side as I go. Started taking down the over head bracing first & work my way to the back of the shed. More then doubled the cleared space from Sunday. My goal was to have at least one clear path from the middle to then back half of the shed. It was a slow process with many trips up & down the ladder & repositioning it. Did manage my goal but, I was exhausted, & everything hurt.
Truly know what it's like to suffer for my art. lol!
I'll be paying for it tomorrow in more ways then I can count, ouch!
Still have to get the maze put away in a timely manner. My Brother inlaw needs the space to store his farm equipment in 10 months of the year. Should be at it again this weekend.
Sunday Nov. 2nd temp 70o!
Helpers: Kathy, Alex, & Myself
Sadly the subject of tearing down the maze was brought up over brunch. I always dread tearing it down after all the hard work of building it. Was hoping that I'd get a call about doing a "Second Chance Scream" for this weekend. But, sadly it didn't happen. Maybe it's the economy, I don't know. Had thought about putting it off till next weekend. But, the future weather forecast is for cold weather. So, decided to go ahead & start the tear down. Wasn't sure how far we'd get but, it would be a start either way. We ended up spending 3 1/2 hrs on it: took down all four of the tunnel/caves, & tore down the area from the facade to the workshop (about 15 ft.)
Took down all the tarps, decorations, lighting, etc. Stacked all the wood panels, etc. to sort out later.
Saturday Oct. 25th temp high 60o
Today is the big day of the annual Halloween party! I've been watching the weather forecast & they still say cold temps 30-40o overnight. Boy, I was I glad that they were wrong. Had planned on arriving early morning. But, after loading up supplies, etc. Didn't get going & arrive till 1 pm. sigh. Oh, well... I got the foggers setup in place & a few other things. Drove to the end of the long driveway to setup the tiki torches & sign. Being that the party is a mile outside a small town, someone reported us to the police. They came along as we had placed the last tiki torch (4 total) in place. The officer asked what was going on? (because they had gotten a call in report about mysterious people at the edge of the highway). I calmly explained that we're having a Halloween party & using the torches to mark the driveway turn. He said ok & thanked me, then left. I placed the glass mason jars (w/tea light candles) hanging from trees & bushes along the winding gravel driveway. My neice Stephanie wanted an old ambulance/hearse out by the maze entrance. Her Dad hadn't gotten around to doing it. So, she hooked the tractor up to it herself & dragged it into position. My minions made an early appearance & walked the maze a few times to get used to the layout & hiding spots. Six o'clock & time for potluck supper! A number of guests had shown up, & had to get the minions fed before the haunt opened at 7pm. We were all ready to open at 7pm but, where was the guests? The vast number of them didn't arrive until closer to 8pm. The night was warm & a star filled sky, what a perfect night. With the weather nice, we had our first big bon fire. Guests had to cross the bridge of doom to enter the maze. Once inside, I was the doorman & guided them to the que holding cell & where to go from there. Majority of our guests were high school teenagers, & they went through in groups of 2's, 3's, & 4's. I timed it so groups were a minimum of 5 minutes apart. A group of four was the most popular size. Next year I think I'll limit group sizes to 1's, 2's, or 3's, to up the scare factor. This year marks our 8th year doing the maze. In the seven previous years, we've never had a single person go by themselves through it. We'll that changed this year, with a brave teenager. He thought it was even more scarier! After 9pm the minions needed a 15 brake. Before opening it again, we did a minor configuration change in a few places. Once we got going again, we sent the guests through the right side exit as our entrance. And had them exit through the left side, which was the entrance before. They were all filled with anticipation of what could be different then before. A few of the minions got creative as well. They asked if the large canon strobe light (only strobe used) could be turned off? It was & they even turned off a few flicker candles to make it more harder. lol! Some groups were so confused that they ran into another group that was sent in after them. All in all everyone had a good time & closed the maze a little early at 11:45pm. This was mainly because of the teenager's curfew limitations of driving at night. After everything was turned off for the night, tiki torches & sign collected it was 12:30. We were all wiped out & ready to go home. This morning we all slept in & met for a late brunch. The weather was cold & windy. A high of 35o all day long with flurries of light snow. Not enought to do anything but to melt & be annoying. Everyone involved in the party was still tired, & had a lazy day relaxing. I'll have to check the camera for party pics. Was too busy working the maze to take pictures.
Wed. Oct. 22nd temp 43o
Haunt helpers: Kathy, & Myself worked on it 2hrs
Cold / rainy all day & into the night.
Main goal tonight is to place tarps over the entire maze. This is never an easy task because of how the maze is constructed. Normally we have a passage way running to the left side of the shed. We use 2x2x8's with a screw through the end, & place the tarp eyelet over the screw & pull the tarp into position. This year we decided to use as much space as possible & build it to the inside walls. Doing so made made it more challenging to place the tarps. We use 20x30 sized tarps & it normally takes all three of them to completely cover the entire maze. But depending on the maze configuration, it can take even more. Using tarps accomplishes a number of things:
makes the maze darker
keeps the fog within the the maze
keeps the rain out
& as a bonus keeps it warmer inside.
I took a few pictures of the finished scenes, etc.
Still have to place the foggers, setup the main stereo, place another boombox, hang the tealight lanterns in the trees along the winding driveway, & place the sign for the party. Also have to make freshy popped popcorn for the party.
Photo link to follow
Saturday Oct. 18th temp high: 56o
Haunt helpers: Ronald, Sharon & her mini minions, & Myself worked on it 8 1/2 hrs
It was a sunny, breezy, & cool afternoon when Ronald & I started to work on the maze. Today is crunch time with the party being a week from today. EEk! The catacombs were setup & three faux wrapped bodies were added. Sharon & her mini minions came to help decorate the maze. Spider webs & spiders are added. I placed battery flicker candles through out the maze. It'll give a creepy floating candle look in the darkness. Sharon & her minions had to go home before Supper. We had Sweedish meatballs, baked potatoes, & roast beef for Supper. We went back & worked on the maze some more. Ronald had setup a butcher room & worked on the torcher room before going home at 8pm. I continued to tweak the maze for lighting & take care of light leaks into other areas. I called it quits at 10pm, loaded up my tools & headed home. We still have to setup the foggers, tarp the maze, & do some more decorations before next weekend.
Thursday Oct. 16th temp:60o
Haunt helpers: Myself worked on it 2 hrs & 45 min.
It was such a nice sunny day today. I thought I should work on the maze after work (3:30 pm). Stopped home collected my tools & loaded the five large tubs of Halloween stuff in the back of the pickup. By the time the truck was loaded... I was already tired. lol Had to make a couple of stops, some Dayquil & some Supper to eat on the way. Didn't arrive at the maze until 6 pm! Thought I'd just go work on it for a few hours, & get whatever I could done. Installed two strings of small flicker flame lights at the que area. Then I did a trial placement of lights. Didn't care for the effect, & took it down. It started getting colder as the sun went down. Closing the shed doors kept it a bit warmer. Dredded doing it but, unloaded all the tubs from the truck. Got a few twinges of a muscle cramp in me leg. Ouch!! Took a few pictures in both light & dark. Worked on it a bit longer, then called it a night at 8:45 pm. Hopefully there will be a few decent pics to post.
Saturday will be the big push day to get as much done as possible. For the Halloween party is Sat. Oct. 25th.
Saturday Oct. 11
temp 73o high, party cloudy with rain! *Note- the temp is unusually high for MN, this time of year.
Haunt Helpers: Ronald, Myself worked on it 7hrs
I added a couple safety exits today & expanded the back of the maze further to the back. My hopes are to have it reach the very back of the shed to the back big sliding doors. Believe it or not, I still have some doors to use up to do this. lol. Ronald spent most of the time getting our display catacombs areas, & over head bracing. The weather changed from cloudy blue skys to a down pour a number of times! It was raining so hard, that we had a hard time hearing the radio (that was turned up loud!). Have to remember that the building is all metal with a metal framework. One of my minions stopped by briefly to check out all our hard work on the maze. I walked him through it from beginning to end. He smiled & said you've out done yourselves again! I can't wait for the party, people will be totally lost... ha! We had pulled pork BBq sandwiches & lasagna for Supper. Yum! I went out & worked on it some more to expand the back section. Got almost one side done, when Ronald came back to say G'bye. He has a busy schedule tomorrow & had to go. I worked on it some more & got a few flicker flame lights installed. Did a test run through it, it's still pretty dark.
No photos were taken, nothing really new to see. I'll take some after we get all the lighting up.
Last Thursday I filled out an application for a job doing Electronic Assembly. (listed on the state job service website, they need 5 people) I've worked two different jobs in this field in the past, & have a combined work experience of 6 years. They called me the next day & asked if I could come interview on Tuesday? I said sure, & took the 9am slot. Little did I know that it would screw up my slot working temp. I wasn't called on Friday for temping for Monday. But, they called me Monday for Tuesday. Since the temp assignment starts between 7-7:30am, I asked if I could goto it after? It should only take an hour. They said no, they couldn't do that. I didn't sleep that well Monday night because of the anticipation of being fully employed. I interview with not one but, three people. Two of them being production supervisors. I got the grand tour & at the end they gave me a pop quiz test. I had to be able to put a wafer thin washer onto a 1/4 in concave part with a center post. But, I had to use a tweezer to pick it up & look through a microscope with both eyes to place the washer. They had me do that twice! I passed with flying colors he said. If I couldn't have done that, I wouldn't have been considered. I told the guy that I have good eye-hand cordination so, it's no problem. Was walked back to the interview room & we talked further. They said that the position is full-time days M-F, with a possibility of overtime. I'd have the standard benefits package & that the starting pay is $9 /hr. I asked if they were firm on that figure because it's a bit low, & have a family to support. They said yes, we start everyone at that rate. But, there will be a review after 90 days & a possibility of a wage increase, etc. Before leaving I asked if the founders still ran the company. Because they were my neighbors growing up & I went to school with their daughter. Yes, they are they replyed.
They said that they will be interviewing people all week & I should hear from them either way by Friday.
I had been feeling pretty down with no hours, worked this week so far doing temp work. Yesterday I put in an application for a shipping position 2nd shift 2:30pm-1am M-Thurs. I wasn't crazy about the hours but, have to pay the bills. I even placed an ad on Craigs list for being a "Haunt Consultant". No replys so far. This afternoon I got a call from the electronics place offering me a day full-time job!! I couldn't believe it at first. She asked when I could start? I said tomorrow is fine with me. She counted offered with next Monday morning at 7am. Wow! Ten minutes later the lady from the shipping job calls asking for an interview. lol! I had to turn her down because I was already employed.
I still plan on doing a haunt prop side business. It's been on hold from a lack of cash flow. But, I'll be starting that up soon as well. Holy Fraq!!
Page:
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
