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Day 9 - State Fair Blog done (Sponsor's Name Here)-style

Posted by Michael James on Aug. 13, 2010

Free market, My-Sugar-Na, State Fair, West Allis, Weather

I have gone out of my way for the past week or so to NOT focus my blog solely on my car parking adventures.  I may not have had as much to say about the State Fair proper, but I've tried to make sure there is something of substance in each blog.

But tonight is a straight parking rant.

I tried to blame the Channel 58 weather guy, who had said the rain wouldn't move in until after midnight Friday.  When he said that, I got amped up for what became an unreasonable number of cars to park and the going rate.  Going one step further, that money has been spent... twice.

Meanwhile, My-Sugar-Na insists that he didn't create the weather (nor the public's reaction to it), rather that he errantly forecast it.

My first inkling of trouble (notwithstanding the jinx I instituted as soon as I gave any hint that we might make bank this weekend) was when I was finishing up my recap of Thursday, and in looking at the radar around 11:00 AM I saw a big blob of yellow and red in Madison.  "Ptah", I said to myself, "there are only three days left.  A little rain won't keep anyone away".  I refused to believe that the Parking Home Game would be less than fruitful.

But I still kept checking the radar during the day.  Those storms kept creeping north, and as the entire system moved east, they would fall apart before Waukesha.  "See!", I told myself, "everyone else will see this and go to the Fair."

Around 3:00 PM on Friday, I asked My-Sugar-Na if the children had announced how many cars have been parked.  I was crestfallenly informed that only one singleton was on our front lawn, at a measly $3. Sigh.  I even told My-Sugar-Na that the rush would be coming.  I felt it.  She told me to be home from work at 5:30, as she would need help with this "rush".

I wasn't on time, but I did pull in around 6:00 and saw two stinkin' cars.  Though they were actually wonderful because it mean $6 in our pockets, it represented failure.  It represented another dismal performance of my predicting revenue.  I never saw a "full" yard on Tuesday of Thursday of this week, and I never saw so many people afraid of the rain that never fully materialized.  The worst part, is that I don't even know if the yellow and red radarblobs were the cause of a less than robust parking scene.  I don't know who to blame.  My-Sugar-Na, continually trying to be the voice of reason, said that I can't be mad at everyone in the state who DIDN'T go to the Fair today.

She's probably right.  I stood at the base of our driveway for about two hours, surviving nothing more than a light sprinkle.  For the day, we were able to convince 7 drivers to park, at a very Tuesday-esque $3 per car (for a total of 97 for the 9 days).  We have passed our 2009 revenue.  And if the rain holds off we still have a chance of matching our 2008 total.  Nah, I'd better not jinx myself further.