Charlie writes:
Tiger, we
had a blast in Palm Springs. There were no problems, we had a
full turnout (18-20 in the hotel, 3-6 day people, and hundreds
of interested CCBC attendees, day pass people and staff observing).
We were 19 at dinner on Saturday evening. People had a good time.
Structure became much less important than pumping in small groups
of new friends, day and night. I think a lot of friend-making
occurred, and people really seemed to support and learn from each
other.
By 7 pm Friday
when I returned to CCBC (at 4:45 pm I whacked my head on the overhead
TV in my room, bringing forth blood and paramedics, and HungBearSF
had to take over the 5 pm event), groups of pumpers in front of
various rooms were pumping and chatting away in the wonderful
twilight, many of them saying this was the first time they’d
pumped with others, and the rest saying they’d never pumped
in such a large group. That early evening time in Palm Springs
took hold, with perfect air and light in the sky, and quiet everywhere,
except for the occasional cry elsewhere like, “Bring me my
two-inch tube, Mark!”
I suggest
you commit CCBC, who were professional and wonderful. CCBC worked
very well for reasons including the warm air enabling big pumps,
and the sun on the tubes making them warm, and no problem with
being naked, and warm 24/7. I do know that Maxx from LA said it
best, on Friday night, “For the first time a pumping event
came together and is working.”
I hope you
hear from others that this was a really good event. Structure
and schedule slipped away as people just got together, mainly
to pump. Hundreds of other CCBC attendees, including weekend guests,
staff and day-pass users, observed and asked us about pumping.
Being part of an ongoing live demo was just fine, especially with
the warm air, the warm sun on the tubes and all that water we
were drinking contributing to big pumps for everyone. People diverted
– one to a realtor, for example, some to naps or romance,
for example, and I shopped, visited two friends’ homes and
had great breakfasts at Café Dot-Com in downtown Palm Springs,
a favorite place – and returned with stories and ready to
pump again.
And the equipment
on hand! One couple installed their Vacutech 9000’s on both
sides of the king bed in their room, the easier to use, and they
decorated their seven-foot-long credenza with their tube inventory,
strung with red lights. We often sat outside one room with multiple
V9000’s in use, at least one with a double connector, and
no unused electrical outlets, which was solved by buying power
strip to enable more! New to me was the idea of having 50 feet
of tube on a V9000, so that the pump was indoors while we were
outside … which led to my buying all of Cliff’s Hardware’s
¼” tubing! Discussions on Monster Tubes, different
hand-pumps and the use of lube, and a hundred other variations
were ongoing. Who knew, for example, that you could wear a 4”
tube in public? But you can if you drape a backpack low on your
front, the tube poked into its unzipped flap. One pumper demonstrated
this frequently.
Not quantifiable
were the friendships begun or enriched, the “I know that
dick from the web; now I can connect a face to it!” encounters;
the sit-and-talk opportunities pumping in the sun provided. Attendees
were from several states, aged 20s to 60s with most in their 40s
and 50s; of every body type, background and interest, and all
sharing their experience of pumping. As Martha would say, this
was a good thing!
Nice skin Eric!
Nice baskets guys!
