So this post is a little late. I went straight from work to the gym today, and as I got home afterwards, I noticed lots of cars were driving by on the next block, honking their horns. I started to go inside, thought about it, and decided I needed to know what was up. I got back in my car and drove by.
This is Street Painting weekend at Drake, the drunken prelude to the Drake (Drunk) Relays next weekend. The people across the alley from me were getting drunk on the lawn to celebrate the fact that next week they get to get drunk on the lawn. They have a sign out along University.
You honk, we drink.
I circled the block a few times. Seven, to be precise. I don't think they noticed.
Also, before I get started, I heard a rumor today that Bacon's temporary hiatus for repairs may in fact become a long-term shutdown. If you enjoy Bacon as much as I do, e-mail him at iowanbacon@gmail.com to tell him so. Hopefully we can talk him out of it.
Anyway, the original point of this post was to tell you a pair of funny stories from the campaign. There's no proprietary information here, just a couple of things I found funny/ironic.
THE FOOD SAGA:
I have no data to back this up, but my guess would be a lot of you who read this blog also get the weekly Fallon e-mail updates. If so, you probably know that a few weeks ago, we put a call out for volunteers to bring food. We figured a homecooked dinner or two each week would make it easier for us to work late without burning the cash and gaining the calories of constant fast food.
The first couple of weeks went by and we had a few takers. It was good.
This week, all hell broke lose. A supporter contacted Palmer's Deli to bring food Monday-Thursday from now through June 6. We were elated. We talked with Palmer's and attempted to schedule around days when food was already scheduled. As it turns out, I misread the calendar, so this week we had the following sequence:
Monday: Supporter arrives with food at 4:56, Palmer's arrives at 5. We generally think it's a pretty good deal, stash away the leftovers.
Tuesday: Palmer's arrives at 5 with food, we've got a bit of a surplus but still in control. Supporter arrives at 6 with food to find we've already eaten, and is livid. After calming her down, we agree to refrigerate the food and cancel tomorrow night's dinner. Now the fridge is stuffed and the freezer is almost full.
Wednesday: I call early in the day and cancel Palmer's for the night. At 4, I'm just getting ready to start heating up Tuesday's second dinner when the phone rings. A supporter is calling to let us know she'll have food to us in 15 minutes.
Thursday: We all eat lunch at the office to help disseminate some leftovers, we feed volunteers, and finally I feel like food is back under control.
Then 5 comes and goes, and Palmer's isn't showing up...
After about an hour of leading me to believe I had somehow screwed up the food schedule 4 times in 4 days, Palmer's shows up and I breathe a sigh of relief.
Who knew food could be so hard?
FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS:
A quick timeline that'll make a treasurer's eyes bug out:
End of December: Receive check for $500.
Mid-January: Turn in campaign finance reports showing said check.
Days later: Receive bank statement, showing $495 discrepancy in deposit.
Next day: Discover the 12/30 check had "$500" in the number field, but was written "Five and 00/100." Add donor to list of calls to make.
Days later: Finally get returned phone call from donor's husband. Sometime between the end of December and the bank statement, the donor passed away. Donor's husband doesn't support your candidate.
Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction.
KL
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