Story Four: The Job Fair

Saturday morning.  Barbieville High School.  

Rose-Grace: Welcome to this year's annual Summer Job Fair.  As most of you know, Kida Nedakh died of surgical complications.  Her daughter Pocahontas has taken over operations of the amusement park and they do have a table inside. Kida was by far the employer my office was asked about the most. 

Someone in crowd:  She was the biggest employer for teenagers in this town! 

Rose-Grace: My stepsons worked for her the last few years.  They loved her, and the job.  We're all saddened by the loss.  Pocahontas is stepping into some very big shoes.  Enough oration - let's get inside before the heat of the day.

Frodo: You guys are working again this year?  When are going to get serious about your band?

Tanner: We are serious about the band, but we're still too young for the really good gigs.  The gigs we can get before we're 21 are few and far between.  We sure don't wanna spend the summer shoveling manure and dealing with our pregnant step-mom's hormones.

Mariko:  She's pregnant?!  Don't they have enough kids?!

Finnick: (laughs) It wasn't planned.  But me and Tanner will be out of the house by the time he outgrows a crib, so it's all good.

Four:  They already know it's a boy?

Finnick: No, but we're all hoping it is.  There's already three in the girls' room and Taylor won't be moved out by then.  Mom thinks they're gonna let her throw a Gender Reveal party but they hate the idea.  

Frodo: My folks didn't like the idea of them finding out after whoever hosted the party, so they threw one where they told everyone else.  Maybe yours could do something like that?  If that's the problem? 

Mariko: Yeah, I love those parties! Suggest that to your folks and don't forget to invite me if they do it!  (Changes the subject) We better get inside before all the good jobs are taken! 

Four: Do I look like I'm job hunting? We just came down to shoot some hoops.

  

Pocahontas: You're two people?

Nakoma: One of the resumes is for his brother.  (to Tanner) How are you, Tanner?  

Pocahontas: You can't apply for your brother.  He should come see me himself.

Tanner:  I'll send him over.  Sorry, Kida just always let us do it this way.

Nakoma: (to Pocahontas)  They're the twins Mom talked about.  (to Tanner) My sister's not as casual about this stuff as Mom was.  It's been an interesting transition. 

Pocahontas: (chuckles) Interesting is an understatement.

Peeta: Why are you talking up these guys?  Everyone knows you'll be operating the Windup just like every other summer. 

Finnick: Maybe not, with Kida gone.  Besides, it never hurts to apply at other places. 

Peeta: Might not want to say that right in front of a prospective employer.  They frown on being second choice.  

Sulu:  (scoffs) The whole town knows why Finnick wants to work there.  

Finnick blushes and hurries away.  Both Peeta and Sulu have a good laugh before discussing Peeta's possible employment at Sulu's greenhouse. 

After they've spoken to the employers - and been all but guaranteed work at the park - the twins join their buddies outside.  When the Job Fair winds down, Rose-Grace finds Finnick.  

Rose-Grace:  Pocahontas has to hurry back to the park and I volunteered you to drive Nakoma home. (Four nearly falls off the bleachers laughing.)  Why is that funny?  

Four: You live with this guy and don't know he's sweet on Nakoma?    

Rose-Grace: Of course I know that.  Why do you think I volunteered him and not Tanner? 

The Job Fair winds down by afternoon and all the teenagers that are still hanging around at the school have dragged the bleachers into the shade.  

Whitney: I can't believe we both got jobs at the diner, Mariko.  It'll be fun working together. 

Mariko: I had to do something or I'd get roped into campaigning for Spiner.  At least this way a paycheck is involved.

Tanner: Spiner?  Why would you want to elect him?  

Frodo: Just cause he's running against your stepmother, he's a sexist bigot?  You've been listening to the wrong people, man.  Spiner is running against her because he thinks she's gonna take property from all the farmers and give to the amusement park.

Tanner: Why the hell would she do that?

Mariko: Because she was friends with Kida?  Because expanding the park would bring truckloads more money to town every summer?  It's a real concern, Tanner.  My folks have always worried about that.  

Whitney: I don't think Rose-Grace would abuse her power like that. 

Four: Pocahontas does want to expand.  Offered my folks a nice price on our land. They're thinking about accepting it, too.  I have no idea what she could do with a measly half-acre, but I'm sure she does.  

Tanner: Well, Whitney's right.  She'd never let anyone strong-arm property owners.  I better get home and tell her about this.

Whitney: Dude, she probably knows. She is the mayor.  

Monster High Customized

As I mentioned in the last post, I picked up the folding Monster High school play set at a yard sale.  It is in pretty good shape, but there are some things I had to change up.  Bits of repair and, frankly, just making it more Jeanie's Barbieville.  The school set basically has two large rooms and a loft.  The classroom has a printed-on chalkboard and Monster High touches like, ahem, chains with hooks hanging on the wall?!  The classroom presented the biggest challenge.

 

The only real damage was a missing hook (to help stabilize the center wall) and spots where was printed cardboard was pulling away from the wall. I replaced the hook (shown here with temporary fix) by threading an a small loop of dead ear pod wire through the hole and to slip over the notch. 

Here you can see one of the chain hooks and a lower corner of the blackboard.  There were a lot of stickers on the classroom walls and front of the building and removal left lots of these little white spots.  

The lock mechanism classroom cleverly hides inside a shelving unit at the rear of the classroom and the cardboard there came off quite easily. On the front, the cardboard came off easily enough, but the glue...  not so much. I cleaned it as best I could before realizing I'd have to buy Glue Gone, adhesive shelf liner, or both.  Elbow grease just wasn't going to do the job and my lower back was cussing me.

I removed only the worst of the bulges in the cardboard here.  They'll put new wallpaper in the classroom.  My elbow grease dispenser and back were not up to the task unless I waited and I'm a Get-Er-Done type.  Waiting is not my forte.  I decided the only issue in the second room is a big Monster High logo on the wall. Nothing choosing a sticker that can be the school team logo can't fix.

Marble shelf liner, a couple of bears, and an adhesive sink back splash.  The tiles on a Barbie scale will look like huge blocks of marble.  While I like the look and had enough left to do a wainscotting in the classroom, it tore so easily I changed my mind.  Good thing it was only a dollar.

The front of the school without pillars.  The Monster High logo above the door is part of the lock mechanism.  There are logos molded into the doors as well.  Getting rid of them is beyond my abilities and inclination.  The architect, then, was Midge Hadley.   

Pillars in place.  I'll have to do away with the gargoyle or come up with a Barbieville explanation for the other's absence.  I do like the look of the pillars by the entrance.  The only issue I have with the other outer wall is a very small logo on the backboard.  I had a plan for it, but it didn't work out as intended.  More on that later.

The finished classroom.  Obviously Barbieville's team is the Bears.  Or maybe the Bruins.

OK, so he's too big and trimming him just looks stupid.  Off he goes, taking the printed logo and surrounding pink with him.  I didn't want another totally marble wall, so only covered a straight line across from above the lowest point damaged.  

There is a small bulge in the green loft wall.  It's not an issue.  The wall with the lockers is good. Except for a border between the pink and the marble, this room is done.

I cut the small bear from the decal packaging.  He was a picture of a car window with the decal in place, just in case the buyer wasn't sure how to display them.  Trimmed him carefully to put over the logo on the backboard, but he was actually too small!  So he's hanging out over the doorway on the locker side of the central wall.  

Border for that marble/pink join, the backboard logo, and the classroom clock are the only bits left.  Right now the clock face is a bare marble circle.  Here's the backboard. For all intents and purposes, this school is ready for use.  My Barbie children point at me and giggle...  it's summer!  Little do they know how much pull I have with the Barbieville School Board.  

**Edited to add**

It occurred to me after posting that the school, with its web motif, was better suited to a team called the Spiders. The bears came off the walls!  I already had spider decals, so I found two that looked enough alike to serve as team logo.  One went in the center of the clock.

One went above the windows in the hallway/cafeteria.  Black electrical tape makes for a border on the marble/pink join.  I can't believe it took so long to think of Spiders!  So obvious!

Electrical tape here as well.  NOW the school is ready.  

Reorganizing and June Haul

Yard Sale had the folding Monster High Play set, almost intact, for 10 dollars.  TEN DOLLARS!  TEN DOLLARS!  I asked the lady about it, because the furniture and things were in a separate bag and I thought that price might be just for the building, but no.  Whole set.  "And I'll even give you all those stands" she says.  So....  I finally have it.  I was asking Santa for this when it was a brand new thing!  I'm still figuring out what exactly I want to do by way of customizing it.

The stands in the classroom. You can see it's been stickered and there are places where the cardboard design is pulling away from the plastic wall.  The doors do still open and close.  Up in the corner, you can see the web party decor snap-on.  Not sure what I'm going to do with those.

Furniture in the "creepateria".  The lockers all still open and close, but the little locks are missing.  Lots of the tiny accessories are.  The stairs have a place to plug into the front edge of the floor, but I hadn't noticed that yet when I took the picture.  

Upstairs we have the desks and trophy case/DJ booth.  DJ booth is going into the boy cave!  

The gargoyles outside the front door are missing their books.  

"Casketball" hoop but no ball.  Maybe my dolls already have a ball of the proper size.

Close up of some of the sticker damage in the classroom.  

The connector that goes here and helps hold the walls stable is missing.  This'll do for now.

One of the gargoyles got chewed on by a dog.  Boo.  I wonder if the dog ate their books? 

Folded up part way, there's a backdrop for restroom drama.  (I did lay it down for the photo.)

All the furniture is designed to pop apart for storage.  This is the only damage to those parts.  If it gets too annoying, I'll glue it.  

I reorganized my little office area, which left a vacant spot where a bookshelf had been, so I turned the dollhouse deck longways, and scooted the whole deal over.  My DIY bleachers were crushed in the process but since I now have 8 million stands and the small bleachers, I'm not fussed.

Horse stuff under the deck.  My ceramic park bench also broke so I decided to use the Creepateria table in its place.  Ignore the little brown table.  It is not there.  

Claudia says "Look!  I can bend now!"  Her back looks weird because the donor body had wings, but it's all good.  

I found this Disney Descendants guy and bought him for a donor.  He doesn't match either noggin, so....  new guy in town!  Meet Ben! 

And I found Fred the other male friend he wanted.  Camera Boy, but he was fishing.  Meet Bobby. 

Musings

I wonder sometimes what toy companies are thinking.  The entire reason behind any business is to make money but it seems they aren't doing what they should in order to do so.  Yes, people will pay ten bucks for a doll with the standard five points of articulation and Vapid Face.  But they will pay more for full articulation and a face with personality.  I'm no expert, but the adage "spend money to make money" exists for a reason. 

And then there's the larger world of the dolls.  Very few people, of any age, are satisfied with just a doll.  They want things for the doll.  Those things should also be well-made.  Solid items that stand up to rough play because even if you only display the dolls, stuff happens.  Children and pets alone can wreak havoc by accident.  One of the terms my minions got used to hearing when a toy broke was "it pops".  As in pops back together. 

Then there's the really rough play.  Oops, they drove off a cliff.  Nine car pile-up in the hallway.  And it ain't just boys who do that stuff.  DEATH TO GENDER ROLES  (Oops, sorry... I digressed)  Very few people play with dolls as intended. Dolls get up to all kinds of non-sanctioned shenanigans. 

The biggest selling doll lines are largely set in a high school - Monster High, Ever After High, whatever school the Descendants attend - and I think that's where Mattel messed up with Barbie. For all of her roots as a "teenage fashion model" the last time she went to High School (officially) was in the 1990s.  Even though I'm not a fan of the dolls themselves*, I love the rest of it.  School play sets!  Furniture that's not pink!   

Mattel is taking steps I like.  The new bodies and skin tones, bringing back the sisters.  The "I can be" line reminds me of "We girls can do anything" from back in the day.  They've even given Skipper and Chelsea friends.  Stacie must be a loner. 

Anyway, that's my thoughts on the subject.  Buy what you like.  I know I do! 



*The body/head ratio is way off and the face paint is cartoonish. 

Big Official Disclaimer

My dolls often keep their original names.  As a result, the people in my Barbieville stories will be toting around the same names and faces as copyrighted characters.  Lest I get sued for copyright infringement (because some of these companies are crazier than I am), I officially proclaim that they are NOT the same characters.  I don't make any money off this blog or the stories in it.  It's just for silliness.

My Christopher Pike, for example, has never served in Starfleet.  He manages a grocery store.  He just looks like Bruce Greenwood, I swear!  My Finnick's last name is Pike and he's never participated in a Hunger Game unless you count Thanksgiving.  My Pocahontas and Nakoma are sisters, not besties.  You get the idea.