I made a pact with myself the other day to try to keep this thing updated more often more this year and maybe improve my writing a tad. So here’s post number two for 2018. The featured image for this is one of the Georgia Brass Band at last month’s Christmas concert, which I couldn’t play because of the amount of rehearsals I missed for the Memphis & Chattanooga trips. The band sounded good! It was the first time since it formed in 1999 that I actually got to hear what it sounded like, and I came away pretty impressed.
Should you be wondering, the shot was taken during a kids’ participation song – which may explain why our solo euphonium player has a toddler in his lap.
Tonight was the first rehearsal of that group since the concert, and also the first time that I’ve put a horn to my lips since mid-November. I was, to say the least, a bit wobbly – and my lack of practice was not helped by the fact that it’s been quite cold in Atlanta for the last week and I’ve got some seriously chapped chops. Overall, though, I wasn’t too embarrassed by my playing, and I’m looking forward to digging into the repertoire that we’ve got selected for our next concert (Brass Blast at Kennesaw) and to some extra rehearsals that we’ll be putting in over the next few months as we prepare to once again storm the beaches of the North American Brass Band Championships in Ft. Wayne in April.
Work today was a bit of a downer, thanks to one of my problem clients. They’ve been complaining about pretty much everything since they came on board at the start of last year. First they didn’t like their primary consultant….so I became their new primary consultant. Then they didn’t like their CSM (Customer Success Manager), so they stopped talking to him and started trying to put me into that role – something that I flatly refuse to have happen. A couple of months ago, they started complaining to me about one of their applications, which is running slowly because their single SQL server is overloaded. I told them that, not being a CSM, I couldn’t really suggest anything, but that – if it were my call – I’d get another SQL server. I also told their CSM that they needed another server. The CSM, however, doesn’t like them any more than they like him, so basically nothing was done….and they just keep complaining to me, no matter how many times I tell them that I can’t work with them about anything involving money.
So they had their lawyer draft a document to the X-Company president, listing 10 areas that they felt we were in breach of contract. The president got together with the CSM and told him to prepare a response for each of the 10 areas, and I got sucked into helping him do that, in spite of the facts that 1}I know absolutely nothing about many of them (problems preceded me), 2}I’ve given the CSM my recommendations several times on the areas that I do know about, and 3}the whole letter was just them bitching and moaning more about the same stuff that I’m tired of hearing about. I tried to be their advocate for several months. Now, they’re just pissing me off.
I did get a number of things done for other clients, however, which was nice. And I just finished doing an update (on their lone SQL server) for the problem children, so maybe they’ll leave me alone tomorrow.
Actually, they’ll probably bombard me with questions and complaints about the update – which they insisted be done tonight even though most updates generally take several days and are done by Level 2 consultants – of which I am not one.
So it’s now 10:45 and I’ve had a full day. It’s still rather chilly, but there are three cats and a space heater in my bedroom, and I think I’ll sleep pretty well.
Also mean to start walking in the mornings again – haven’t done that in several months. I just haven’t felt like rolling out of bed and going out into the pitch-black cold. But maybe…just maybe….I’ll do it in the morning.