A friend of mine informed me on Monday that I hadn’t posted anything here in a week and a half. So much for being on top of things in the new year, huh?
If I were a smart person, I’d say that that’s because nothing’s been happening, but that excuse falls flat for a couple of reasons. First, there HAVE been things going on (nothing earth-shattering, granted); and second, I don’t believe I wrote several weeks ago that I’d update this thing more often assuming that I had something to update it with. The whole idea was just to write something every day or two, right? So I apologize for my slackassness, and I’ll try to put down the latest gossip now (in no particular order).
I went up to Greenville last Saturday and hung out with Mom, Dad, Dianne and Cy. The occasion was, of course, Dad’s 77th birthday (which actually was on Monday, but who’s going to drive 5 hours on a Monday?). Greg showed up briefly with Tad and couple of Tad’s friends, all of whom had just finished the first round of their All-State auditions. I’m told that Tad is a fantastic trumpeter – and he’s only in 9th grade. Yo, Tad! Don’t screw up and major in, say, sociology when you get to college. You’ll regret it when you’re 40.
We spent the bulk of the day chatting – some of the parental units’ church friends came over for a few hours in the afternoon – and then Cy and Dianne and I made stuffed peppers for dinner. I gave Dad a can opener and some pink batteries for his birthday. Sentimental sap, ain’t I? Mom held up pretty well, but opted to lie down when the time came to eat the peppers. No surprise there. She didn’t even want a salad because, as she put it, “the peppers have already corrupted the lettuce.”
Getting back into the work thing has been difficult, to say the least. I’m completely unmotivated and more than a little overwhelmed with the languages that I’m supposed to be using to write reports. I just don’t pick this stuff up as quickly as I used to be able to do. Would really just like to go back to working with hardware; but, if I’m going to keep my job, I need to knuckle down and get really good at coding in some language. I’m starting to think that javascript might save me.
At any rate, I’ve got about 4 projects on my list right now and I’ve been going into work every morning all fired up about digging in and completing them. That enthusiasm lasts until my first cup of coffee and then I generally waste the rest of the day on side projects that have no actual value to my boss – the folks in my old boss’ group are quite happy with my help, however. Maybe I can get him to hire me as an on-site IT guy…
I had a decent tuba lesson on Monday night – my first one in several weeks because of the holidays. I haven’t been practicing as much as I should. Still got a couple of really nice compliments from Bernard, along with the usual assaults upon my pride. It’s okay. I pay him to put me down. Can’t say that it inspires me, but it does make me practice a bit harder. The Persichetti solo is still kicking my ass, and he pulled out a new book (Snedecor, I think) on Monday to help me with my low-range stuff. It’s a bear.
Still, I catch myself thinking “You’re sounding good, dude” every now and then, which is nice. At rehearsal on Tuesday night, I was pretty stoked about the way I was playing. For a short time last month, I even considered entering the solo and ensemble bit at the brass band championships in April; but I’m not ready to do that yet. Not to mention the fact that I’d have to register this week and I haven’t even looked at solos for Eb tubas.
Chris has mentioned that she might be going to D.C. later this month, stopping in Virginia to check out her potential new school. I might go with her. Haven’t been to the capitol in too long and there’s a brass thing going on there, so it’d be fun. Can’t believe I’m getting sucked into helping a girlfriend move again, though. I’m thinking I’ve got some sort of mental illness going on where women are concerned.
The cold weather continued through yesterday, but it’s supposed to be warming up today. That’s a good thing. It’s not that I’ve been uncomfortable with the temps, but my stupid heat has been running almost non-stop for the last couple of weeks – and the thermostat is set at 57. I’ve had fires going most of the time, have put up thermal drapes, and generally have an electric heater or two running. And STILL the heat’s kicking on. I’m scared to see my next natural gas bill.
Speaking of the cold, Atlanta got hit with mild snow and ice last Thursday, and the citizenry predictably went nuts. Actually, the surface streets were pretty bad. Betsy Jones had come to Atlanta to teach on Thursday morning and had made tentative plans to hang out with me in SC on Saturday, but she got trapped at Rich’s house because of icy roads until Saturday afternoon. The streets in my own neighborhood were pretty treacherous on Friday, but I’m a yankee stud and all that. I *can* hit the brakes and turn sharply on solid sheets of ice. It’s a genetic thing.
Played trivia for the first time in a year or so last Friday night and was well on my way to a 2nd-place finish when I decided that it was late and I should go to bed. That was fun. In other competition news, I played in a singles darts tournament last night and – drink and smoke free! – came in third. It was more a case of drawing weak competition than any feat of great throwing on my part, but I’ll take it.
And that’s pretty much all that I can think of to say for now, so I’ll throw in a “momery” and then see if I can find some photos to sprinkle throughout this monologue.
In about 1978 or 79 (I was in 8th grade, at any rate), some friends and I were throwing a frisbee around the quad area at Middlebury High School and the frisbee went onto the roof over the walkway between the junior high and the high school. Naturally, I climbed up to get it….and was seen by a student teacher who felt that it was her duty to drag me to the principal’s office.
She was leading me there when I looked up and saw Mom walking down the hall towards us. Mom loves to tell the story about the look on my face when I saw her. Something along the lines of, “How did she know already??” I probably was thinking something like that. I really don’t recall. I just remember the sight. I also remember her sitting in the office with me and insisting that I throw in “sir” after all of my “yes” and “no” answers to the principal.
Those of you in the south might not think that’s all that strange, but northern kids generally don’t throw in the “Yes, Sir” and “No, Sir” sobriquets. I felt like an idiot. I still have no idea what she was doing at the school that day, but I’ve been afraid of heights ever since.
