My adventure weekend at Talula's

[WheelyFixed]

Folks that have been on EAv2 probably remember discussions of the annual "MOM" or Meetings of the Members events at the homes of some of the board leaders.

I am still in contact with several of the ones that have not made the choice to join us on EAv3 as well as those that have. There was discussion of continuing the MOM tradition on a much smaller, invitation-only basis, with particular consideration about whether I could attend, given my disability related needs, and that many of the homes were not wheelchair accessible in any way that could be handled.

Talula said that his house had steps to get in, but once in, he said there was a bathroom and guest room I could use, so I decided to go for it... It was a lot of work to get things ready, including shop time to make a not very portable shower chair into something easier to deal with. I then had a LONG drive (about 1400miles) to get to Wisconsin from Mass...

But I've spent the last couple of days meeting and talking with Jesus and Paolo in person, along with a few others including Kristoff and a few others from the old site. Unfortunately Talula became ill and was not able to participate in a lot of the festivities.

Discussion was wide ranging over a lot of topics, and may lead to some more posts of papers and other material from Jesus.

It also looks like we may see another survey of the community fairly soon as the thread a while back about what questions we would like to see asked a while back has made it through a lot of the institutional read tape and is in the final editing stages - look for more formal details and an announcement soon.

We may also be able to get forwarding links between the old site addresses and our current ones set up - I think this would be of great value given the mention of EAv2 in the SOC and 20-30+ other academic papers that are out there.

WheelyFixed

[Aunuch]

Ever since joining EAV2 I had been curious about going to a MOM, and being able to meet a good deal of you all in person.

But not being independent or having any sort of job (I'm starting to become at least a bit more independent now, but I still don't have a job...), that will just have to remain a wish, yet to come true...

When I learned of the new EAV3, some time after joining I started to think about the MOMs we you used to have back in the EAV2 and how it would be a neat idea to bring that back to the new, current archive (even if I may not being able to meet ya'll quite yet, but some day I shall get the chance!)

[WheelyFixed]

I'm very glad I was able to make this one, although it was more than a bit of a challenge...

I probably would not have been able to do many of the previous ones because of accessibility challenges, but at least Talula's was somewhat accessible, with a lot of effort, so everything sort of worked...

According to my trip meters, I had a round trip of about 2863 miles, and the trip back was 1449 miles. I did most of both drives w/ minimal stops, but did spend one night in a hotel on the way there - otherwise I would have arrived early and not really awake... On the way back I had two or three times that I stopped in a rest area and napped for an hour or two, but mostly ran on caffeine - left Wisconsin about 11am on Monday, got home at midnight on Tuesday.... Probably would have been an hour or two earlier except for a couple of MAJOR traffic snarls due to construction.

Like most of my generation, as the song says, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvV3nn_de2k there are certain speeds at which I can't drive... But I can drive at 56-58, which probably annoys the hell out of folks in a 70, but let me get an average 34-36mpg out of my adapted MINIVAN, and almost 600 miles per tank of gas.... (Back when I was driving at the high end of prevailing, 65-75 I was doing good to get 23mpg) Considering the overpriced gas in tollway service areas, that was a BIG savings... (and if you work the math it does NOT add a lot to the time) Back when I had balls I'd never have had the patience to run that slow...

I agree that it would be great to have more of these MOM's and if we ever get our housing situation worked out to have enough room for it, I'd definitely consider volunteering to host one...

WheelyFixed

[dandelion]

Can you share a bit more on what you did to make Talula’s place more accessible?

Glad you got home safe. I was dreading that long drive for you.

[WheelyFixed]

There wasn't a lot that needed to be done, as it was already mostly OK...

The biggest problem wads that there were three - four steps to get from the front walk to the front porch and another one to get into the house... Essentially this required the muscle power (which was marginal as none of us were youngsters) to tilt my manual chair back and haul me up the stairs (basically think the same technique as using an appliance dolly to get a fridge up the stairs...) Once in I stayed inside until I left, and we got some help from one of the other local eunuchs to give some extra muscle for that, plus going down is much easier than going up...

He had a guest bedroom on the first floor, and so was the bathroom... We spent most of our time in the kitchen around the dining table,. I had made my original shower commode chair into a more portable unit with the help of a lot of quality time on the milling machine, and brought that along...

It was OK for a weekend, but awkward, and wouldn't have worked for a lot longer stay, mostly because of bathroom issues... In the shower chair I had to go in backwards in order to be able to make the turn to get over the toilet for bowel program. I had to do sponge baths w/ baby wipes because I could back the chair into the shower, but not make the tight 90* turn to back up to the actual shower controls. He had a fancy decorative bathroom sink that I could barely reach, so I actually ended up brushing my teeth using a water bottle and spitting in the toilet.... So overall clumsy, but I made it work....

WheelyFixed

[Evolve]

Thanks for sharing this experience. I was always curious about the MOM events, but never made it to one. I remember they were held in Minnesota. I think Minnesota and Wisconsin are nice central locations that are fairly easy to get to and quite nice in the summer. At some point, though after the membership has grown more, it might be worth considering whether to have the event at other locations on some sort of a rotation. Regional meet-ups are another idea I feel might be worth pursuing as well.

[WheelyFixed]

The location in Wisconsin was right on the border, basically one exit from St. Paul, and it is definitely lovely country... Not all that easy to get to in terms of central location, but in many ways that is not as critical if one is flying. Once you get on a plane it doesn't make a lot of difference where you get off, and the fare isn't that much different...

At any rate I certainly think that regional meetings are a great idea. I'd be willing to host one if our living situation was better, but as it is our current house does not really have enough room to handle guests in a reasonable way... We have been doing a little looking for a better house to move to, but it is a definite challenge in this area, especially since I want to get closer into Boston so that there is better para-transit availability and a shorter commute to the maker-space I spend a lot of time at.

WheelyFixed

[JesusA]

Thanks for sharing this experience. I was always curious about the MOM events, but never made it to one. I remember they were held in Minnesota. I think Minnesota and Wisconsin are nice central locations that are fairly easy to get to and quite nice in the summer. At some point, though after the membership has grown more, it might be worth considering whether to have the event at other locations on some sort of a rotation. Regional meet-ups are another idea I feel might be worth pursuing as well.

Over the years of the original Eunuch Archive, In addition to the annual gathering in the Minneapolis area, gatherings were also held in San Diego (twice), the San Francisco area, southern Oregon, the Washington, DC area, and Manchester, England. Each gathering requires an easily accessible location and a local organizer. It would be great to see more such gatherings in a variety of locations.

[Evolve]

Thanks for sharing this experience. I was always curious about the MOM events, but never made it to one. I remember they were held in Minnesota. I think Minnesota and Wisconsin are nice central locations that are fairly easy to get to and quite nice in the summer. At some point, though after the membership has grown more, it might be worth considering whether to have the event at other locations on some sort of a rotation. Regional meet-ups are another idea I feel might be worth pursuing as well.

Over the years of the original Eunuch Archive, In addition to the annual gathering in the Minneapolis area, gatherings were also held in San Diego (twice), the San Francisco area, southern Oregon, the Washington, DC area, and Manchester, England. Each gathering requires an easily accessible location and a local organizer. It would be great to see more such gatherings in a variety of locations.

It would be cool to eventually have meetings on a rotating seasonal basis- ie. someplace like San Diego or Florida in the Winter and someplace like Minnesota or Wisconsin in the Summer. I know there's a lot of moving parts that go into the planning and execution of meetings, especially when travel is involved, but it's worth tossing out ideas every now and then for if/when any of them become feasible.

[WheelyFixed]

I also think it would be great to have more meetings in different areas... The biggest barrier that I see is that a meeting is generally going to require a host that is willing to volunteer AND have a suitable place - which to me pretty much means a private home w/ a somewhat reasonable yard - not a condo or apartment... For me it also requires at least some level of accessibility so that I can get in and out. (most homes are difficult at best, many aren't really possible...)

WheelyFixed