Rare and awesome

The nonprofit I work for has just resumed Ebay operations after a several-year hiatus. As the semi-expert in antiques and collectables, it is mostly on me. While there is a lot more work to do, people are passing some really awesome and rare things my way. Let's see:

-A set of 8 pewter spoons from 1600s England stamped with a rose&crown hallmark.
-A hand-painted Haviland Limoges chocolate pot with a painting of a Georgian gentleman on one side and a lady on the other. These were original paintings from scratch, not transfers with a quick dab of paint. Damn shame the spout was broken.
-A religious book published in 1785. Before now, the oldest book that passed through my hands was dated 1803.
-A fancy Victorian velvet & brass wedding photo album/music box.
-A collection of Civil War letters from a soldier to his wife. One letter was embossed with a seal of Congress. I have no idea why; he wasn't anyone of importance.  Heart-wrenching letters.

There were some more books from the 1800s that I didn't get to look at before I left. And there's a cart of lead crystal and early American pattern glass waiting for me when I get a spare second.

St Francis Ebay page, where most of these things are or will be for sale.

My personal Ebay page, less awesome but more affordable.

Servants

There are a few extra faces in today's page, but pay them no attention. They are nameless NPCs. I'm afraid that the Stanhopes are too important to open their own doors and pour their own tea. And that is fairly typical.

Good families of the 18th century had quite a lot of servants. A number of people had to work very hard to keep a few in luxury. Even families that were not so well off had a few servants. The servant class are considered unimportant and are rarely mentioned in detail, but they are omnipresent despite not having speaking lines.

-In Pride and Prejudice, the Bennets had a cook and a housekeeper, and since they had a coach I presume they had a groom and perhaps a footman, but these are never mentioned.

-A man of Mr. Darcy's importance would have had someone in almost constant attendance. At the very least, a valet would have travelled with him to attend to his clothes and his person. Yet the only servant who makes an appearance is his housekeeper, when Elizabeth visits Pemberly, Darcy's home estate.

-In Sense and Sensibility, the Dashwoods move to Barton Cottage in what they perceive as intolerable hardship, yet they take a couple servants with them, cooking and chopping firewood being beneath them.

-In Peter Pan, the Darling parents were poor but pretentious, so they had only one servant, but referred to her in the plural sense.

He's the youngest, so he was spoiled as a child.

Too much to do, too much to do! I worked through two carts of antique, hand-painted china today at work. Victorian rose vases, Japan violet teapots, art nouveau plates. It takes time to figure out exactly what something is, but with things like that, it's worth it. Tomorrow, two carts of antique crystal and glassware, books, and.....Ebay auctions.

That's right!
Work has FOUND the internet.

Don't look so surprised, it had to happen eventually. A million monkeys typed a long time for this.

So clever he outsmarts himself

Period-correct playing cards, though I didn't render them in exacting detail. I'm pretty proud of these first few pages. I paid a lot of attention to making the dialogue, the monologue, and the card game mesh.

Allan thinks of himself as clever, but his tactics are predictable. For example, he babbles when he is trying to pull a fast one. He thinks of it as trying to distract his opponent. It may work on casual acquaintances, but it's a dead giveaway to anyone who knows him well.

His mother knows him well.

My life in post-its and paper dolls

I'm thinking about starting a second comic. Siloen takes so much time, but there are also things about my job that are so strange and funny that I feel the need to share them with the world. The story of my life told with post-its and donated stationary, as scribbled in 5 minutes or less.

I was also looking at a pioneer family paper doll book and thinking it would be fun to do that with Allan and Stephen. A paper doll set, I mean, with them in their undergarments and a number of sets of clothes and accessories. But perhaps I'm the only one who would find that amusing.

Eating at conventions for cheap

We've all been there. You've paid for your ticket, your room, and transportation to the con. Maybe something awesome to wear. You were on a shoestring budget to begin with, but now your wallet is almost empty. And you haven't even hit the dealer's room yet!

There are many ways to eat for cheap at a con. Which ones you use depend on what perks your convention offers, your food preferences, and how much you want to plan ahead. Planning ahead obviously gets you the best advantages.

1. Eat at the Con Suite. Large conventions like DragonCon have a room where they hand out snack food, drinks, and popcorn for free. You can't live off it, but it does take the edge off.

2. If your hotel has a restaurant, see if they will throw in free breakfast with your room reservations. It doesn't hurt to ask. Buffets are the best! You can feel full for most of the day on one free breakfast.

3. Carry your own water or soda with you. It keeps you hydrated and might save you from impulse purchases at the snack bar.

4. Compare the restaurants nearby. Which ones give such generous portions that you can save half and eat it later? Or buy one meal and split it between two people. Skip the combo deals and the sodas. At $2 each, you'd do better to ask for a free cup of water and save your cash for food.

5. Bring your own cold foods. Plan ahead and bring a cooler of ice (the mini-fridge probably isn't big enough). Fill it with your own drinks and food. Good stuff, not just boring yogurt and granola bars. Pack food you actually want to eat! Salami, ham, cheese, something from the salad bar, salsa and chips. Anything from the deli case is fair game.

6. Hot foods. Sooner or later, you're going to get tired of cold food. Probably sooner. Most hotels don't have microwaves in the room. If yours does, you're in luck! I've never lugged a microwave to a con. It seems too silly. Well, too troublesome rather. The following suggestions are silly, but they do work in a pinch.

The hotel usually provides a number of gadgets. One of them may be a coffeemaker. You can use the coffeemaker (without the coffee) to heat water for ramen, hot drinks, or condensed soup. Do not make ramen noodles IN the coffee carafe. Trust me, this is a mistake.

Tired of liquids? Use the coffeepot's warming plate to heat your food. This takes for-damn-ever, so plan to do something else for half-an-hour. Food needs to be in glass, Pyrex or ceramic, NOT PLASTIC. Make sure it is the right size to fit where the coffee carafe goes.

I prefer the boil-in-bag approach, where I make hot water with the coffeemaker, and soak the food jar or packet in the hot water until it gets warm. I've found some brands of Indian food (Kohinoor, House of India, Maharaja) that work very well with this. They come in a foil packet, don't need to be refrigerated, and cost about $2-4 a meal. It's more than I usually spend on a meal (at home, we try to eat on $3 a day) but the curry tastes great and is much cheaper than eating out.

If it's a hot summer day, or my car is parked in the sun, I've heated the packets on the dash of the car.

No coffeemaker? I don't like to suggest this- it's a fire hazard and injury magnet- but there's probably a travel iron in the room. Prop up the iron (and do a good job; you don't need nasty burns!) and heat a sandwich or slice of pizza on it. Toast bread. That's about as much as it's good for. Don't put plastic on it. Don't rinse it under the tap, especially while plugged in. Wiping it with a damp paper towel is fine.

That's about as far as my experience goes. I'm there to enjoy the convention, not cook food. Do you have any tips you'd like to add? Feel free to share!

Ahh, bills...

Ahh, bills.... You and I know what that's like, don't we?

I've picked up a second job for September & October, but I'm working on getting far enough ahead that I can update on schedule. Plenty of items on sale on Ebay, too...

I can probably avoid working a second job for Christmas, but we'll see.