T Goes to Las Vegas

[TFP Admin]

Surfaces 2012 is less than a week away. Thanks to some of you, I get to go this year and I hope it turns into a boon for The Floor Pro Community with new registrations, lots of new members participating, adding business listings and, most of all, adding new education, new information and new resources that we can all share in.

I'd like to chronicle the trip here in this topic. It's a big deal for me because my health is not getting better and I may not be able to go to another one. And I have an opportunity to meet many shining stars of the flooring industry. I am also looking forward to meeting up with those of you who are attending Surfaces this year too.

This is how I start:

Click images to view full-size.

Hey, a guy's gotta start somewhere. It will take me a few days to actually prepare for the trip. I leave the morning of the 21^st. My car has been in the body shop recovering from a wayward deer and is supposed to be ready tomorrow afternoon. In the mean time, I have to get my stuff packed and organized. I am taking my roll seriously, as a representative of all the great professionals that make up The Floor Pro Community, so I want to look sharp too. And yes, I want my mobility aide, my Segway, to look good too.

I've been doing laundry for a couple days now, to clean all the dust off clothes I haven't worn in years. I also had to clean and polish my favorite earring, which I haven't worn for quite a while. It's amazing how things just don't seem so important when you stay home all the time. I've gotten into the rut of wearing sweats and not shaving for days. I'm kind of a slob sometimes.

I haven't gone anywhere nice or taken any trips in about 5 years. I can't just go dressin' like a slovenly fool. I still have some decent clothes and I bought a couple shirts and a couple pairs of pants that aren't raggedy jeans. I got a ton of ironing to do. The bag that sits on my Segway handlebars was lookin' kindy shabby too, so I dressed it up with a little fabric paint (it's made for vinyl and works great on the nylon canvas material it's made out of).

I'm trying to pace myself, eating right and getting the sleep I need. I have to adjust my schedule because I am used to staying up 'til 4am and not getting up until 10am. I have seminars to attend that start at 9am, so I gotta get used to those early hours. There's still work to do to get ready, both here at home and on the website so many of us call our home in the ether.

My plan is to keep this updated at least once a day during the whole Surfaces event for me. Starting now. I hope those of you also going will add your own commentary to this topic and help make it a community event we can share with everyone.

Later,

Jim

[kwfloors]

I'm glad your going. At least it isn't on the east coast and we would be getting up even earlier. I haven't started packing yet, plowing snow.

[Nate Hall]

I leave on Sunday afternoon so I'll pack on Saturday and double check it Sunday morn. I'm sort of pushing things towards the staging area to be ready when I do pack. A large part of this trip is the schedule. I have to clear up all loose ends and set up jobs and appointments for afterwards. I don't want to leave anyone hanging for four days.

[mike sliwinski]

Webmaster and " The Floor Pro" Community Forum Creator Jim McClain ! will Surface at Surfaces 2012

Good Luck Jim and GOoooooo Break a Tire

Mike

[TFP Admin]

Oooh, don't say that, you'll jinx it. I just got my car back today and there's no more deer fur poking out of the grill work. Except for having to give up my Alteeza headlamps, everything is back to normal. Maybe even cleaner than normal. The body shop even ground out, filled and painted a small rust spot on the passenger sliding door - not even close to the deer damage.

It has been a long day of preparation. It's not even 9pm and I am really tired. Still a couple more pieces to iron; I've started packing stuff I won't use until I get to my hotel, like the battery chargers for cell, razor, o2 concentrator, camera... jeez, so many battery operated things. Packing takes a lot longer than I remember.

Had to throw out some refrigerated food because it would all spoil by the time I get back and I can't eat it all today or tomorrow.

And now it's snowing hard. Oh wait, I take that back. I just peeked out the door and it stopped at about an inch and a half and my foot prints from a little while ago are melted down to the concrete. Prob'ly gonna be pretty icy anyway. But I don't leave until Saturday morning, so there's time for weather changes galore.

Ya know, I think the hard part is going to be all the driving and no company - not in person and not online. At least I will be listening to all my favorite CDs. I got Bruno Mars, Christina Aguilera, Latin Soul, Michael Jackson, Shania Twain, Rick Astley, Beach Boys, Katy Perry, Whitney Huston, Ka$ha, Beatles, Gwen Stefani, Maroon 5, Renee Olstead...

Man, I gotta stop babbling.

[Robert Akin]

While T is away the boys will play

[TFP Admin]

Are you forgetting that the good members of TFP pitched in a few years ago to help me get a new computer? It's a laptop and it goes where I go - ergo, YOU go where I go (when I can get a wifi connection). The last time I went to Surfaces, I had to ban my lead moderator. True, it wasn't his fault, but I did it anyway. Yesiree Rob.

[kylenelson]

Rick Astley huh? Planning on doing some rick-rolling in vegas?

[TFP Admin]

I am definitely going to find someplace that has music and a dance floor so I can make my Segway dance. Yeah, I like me some Rick Astley. I know he doesn't think so, but the best album for me was his first, self-named album. I have that and one he did about 6 years ago, but have since forgotten the name and am too lazy to go out to my van to read the label. I think my taste in music is pretty eclectic, but I do like a lot of the current top pop hits.

[kylenelson]

I had to explain to my wife what a rick-roll was yesterday. Yeah, your music list looks like you are a 16 year old girl, minus the oldies. No offense.

[TFP Admin]

kylenelson said No offense.

[TFP Admin]

Here I am, sitting at the desk of my motel room in Tonopah, Nevada. It's a decent room, seems very comfortable. I got here about 6:30PM or so, but left the room for a little while to get something to eat.

The drive was long, but I was surprised I made it all the way to Tonopah. I had originally planed to stop for the night in Hawthorne. It was about 4:30 then and figured I was good for another 2 hours.

I enjoyed listening to my CDs. Still wincing from the low blow of being compared to a 16 year old girl. I'm gonna hunt you down at Surfaces, Kyle, and... and... well, you'll see.

Just kidding. But it's hard for me to imagine some teeny-bopper girl liking the jazz that Renee Olstead sings, or just about anything the Beach Boys did, unless it was sampled for some rapper. They ain't really even into a lot of the other pop hits I like. They all seem to like rap music - and I have a hard time callin' it music. Although I do admit to liking a few rappers like LL Cool J. But whether my choice in music is twisted or not, this 60-something guy likes a lot of stuff other people my age don't. Whatever makes your foot tap.

It was an interesting drive as far as the scenery goes. It's high desert country, but it's got a lot of character. I took some pictures that I hope turned out nice, but I just had to forget to bring something. And that something was the USB camera-to-laptop cable. DAMN! No one in Tonopah has one either, so my pics will have to wait until I get to Las Vegas.

I also forgot to bring my ear buds too. So, no movie watching on the laptop tonight. The speakers aren't good enough. There's a nice flat panel TV here in the room though, so I guess I'll see what's on the local cable channels.

Looking forward to getting into Vegas tomorrow. Those of you going too, please give me a call so we can meet. 530.518.0023

Jim

[kylenelson]

TFP Admin said I enjoyed listening to my CDs. Still wincing from the low blow of being compared to a 16 year old girl. I'm gonna hunt you down at Surfaces, Kyle, and... and... well, you'll see. Jim

I could only wish I was going to be there.

[TFP Admin]

Oh, for some reason I thought you were. Musta

[Robert Akin]

Ok,

When is the next update?