Buyin "stuff"

(Note: some links on this post contain links to lethal traps).

OK, so I went, like, to the NYSWMA conference, you know?

And there are two major components to a conference:

A) Hang out with really great people you really like whom you haven't seen in a year and
B) Buy stuff from the vendors or drool over what you can't afford

Ummmm...yeah. And you are supposed to listen to the speakers, too.

(Actually, feedback is that the speakers at this conference were EXCELLENT with capital letters all around. I didn't pay the conference fee and instead just volunteered to help at registration so the board members would be free to make contacts as board members should. So I stayed at the registration table all morning and didn't hear the speakers. Then I headed back home to do chores).

Hanging out the night before was fun. I've known some of these guys for 15 years. Our politics are completely different, but these are honest, jump-into-the-path-of-an-oncoming-train-for-anyone gentleman (although I did discover some guys I though were conservative were actually liberal--so I'm guilty of stereotyping, myself). The evening was fun except for one guy who wanted to pretend to the other guys that he was flirting with the only woman at the table. Being a guy, he probably has no clue that it is pretty insulting to "pretend" to pick up a woman he has no intention of picking up, especially when it's clear the guy A) WOULD probably pick up a gorgeous 30-year-old if she indicated she wanted to be picked up, but B) isn't likely to pick up a gray haired bit-overweight 44 year old and was only tossing comments out because I was the ONLY female there.

And guys? You know, I might have been flattering at 34 to be asked if I were 25. Because at 34 it's even possible I may have looked 25 on a good day. But it ain't flattering at 44 to be asked if you are 34. Okay? I have stark white hair. Only a fool would suggest I look 34, and to assume I'm the kind of fool who would believe you are serious, well...

PuulEEZE! I've got a husband at home who makes any come-on artist look like rat bait.

At middle age, we should be over this, you know?

It is, in fact, the first time I have physically poked a man with a fork every time he made a smart remark. He was harmless and amusing, but it meant that the mere two hours that I would have like to have spent in conversation with friends ended up focusing on the amusing jokes this fellow was lobbing off me.

However, we know what goes around comes around. He didn't appear at the conference the next day until early afternoon. Obviously what he'd had to drink had come back to haunt him.

The exhibitor's hall had some great people the next day. Bill Brothers from ACES was there, as well as Alan Huot from Wildlife Control Supplies.. Also, I need to go visit Hotaling Signs (no web page?). They were churning out magnetic signs and stickers (great variety of clip art, too, and LOTS of cat options) right at the conference with their portable equipment. I need a new sign for my truck, because mine has the wrong webpage address on it. So I'll be in touch with them down the road.

I figured there was nothing that could tempt me to part with my meager cash, until I saw the bright purple flashlight on Alan and Carol's table. I picked it up, read the sign, and the fact that this UV flashlight detects cat urine and, I assume, some types of ringworm.....

Oh, I had to have it.




(looks blue; is actually vivid purple)

It was the only one they had, and they wanted to show it off to other conference attendees, so I came back later that afternoon to pick it up.

Mark got to test it when Nick decided to back up and pee on our entertainment unit. Look, the flashlight says he actually did squirt there, the little SNOT! Out comes the Murphy's Oil Soap.

I already have a Wood's Lamp, which is basically the same thing, but not as rugged, and I want something in the truck or house that isn't likely to break.

When I got home, I went online to look for it, and couldn't find the same one I purchased. Alan said he'd get it on his own webpage at some point. A Wood's lamp is probably more affordable for most of you ($20 cheaper than this flashlight).