Today, Saturday morning, was Javalina's second meet and this one had a little bit of a different taste to it. Initially, he came home saying the meet was in San Angelo ISD. Without looking at the map, I know that is far away and said I won't be able to go. This is one of the weekends Wife has to go to her classes, so I was going alone unless I could rally Boy to join me. I also asked Javalina to check with his coaches as to where the meet was going to really be. He then texted Friday during the day that he was wrong, it was going to be at St. Andrew's School. That ends up being in the west side of town, about 5 minutes from the Sam's/Best Buy area in Sunset Valley, or 20-30 minutes from the house. That is a destination I don't mind driving to.
We were all in bed early last night although I did come down and tried to get our bills all lined up and paid. Javalina was asleep by 9:00pm, Wife went to bed at 10:00pm, I went to bed at midnight, Boy said he hung around until 2:00am. Javalina was up at 4:00am, I only got up to pee, but I checked that he had gotten up. He then woke me at 5:40am to take him to school by 6:00am. I don't know why we went so early, no one was there, not even the school bus. It seemed like maybe he was wrong about the time or maybe the thing was next week.... we waited a good twenty minutes alone in the parking lot at school before the bus finally came and some other parents started showing up. I came home before 7:00am, after stopping for some donuts, wrote a blog, then decided to go to bed and sleep another hour.
I got up a little later than what I wanted, I heard my alarm, I just didn't jump out of bed for another twenty minutes, which put me at 8:30am. I was sure Boy was going to take forever to get ready, but I called him once before I went in the bathroom and surprisingly, he was waiting at the bottom of the stairs for me after I brushed my teeth. Javalina texted they were starting at 9:30am, but when we got there the JV girls were throwing before them.
The weather was about perfect, maybe a little chilly when we got there, but the sun was shining brightly. Within a half hour, the boys threw and Javalina is solidly in the middle of the pack. Honestly, there were three guys throwing 32-34ft. The rest of the pack was in the 28-31ft, which is where the 3 Crockett boys threw, all within a foot of each other. Javalina seemed pleased with his throw, probably 28ft 4in. After this, we walked to the other side of the campus. The discus throw was very isolated, but I guess that is good as a discus to the head could be fatal. They converted a softball field by placing a little stage with a circle within for the discus ring at home plate. Javalina was hating throwing the discus until this week, when the other varsity boys stood up for him and told the other JV discus thrower to beat it. He probably throws a little farther than Mijo, but they agreed they would rather work with our son because he is there every day, has a good attitude, and is interested in getting a little better every day. I love that the other guys noticed his work ethic, that is the part that matters to me. He again was in the middle of the pack, throwing a decent ~63ft. If he ever figures out the spinning part of the throw, he could get very good.
After this, Javalina asked me to take his JV crew to eat. We ended up at Zaxby's but one of them didn't like it. I bought him some $1 chicken sandwiches afterward at McDonald's. I thought these new kids were interesting.
Saturday, February 29, 2020
2/28/20 Denied?
Wife will hate me talking about this, but we were denied on our attempt to refinance. It really makes no sense other than because we were trying to keep the same company, they gain more money from us by keeping us on a 30 year note than allowing us to move to a 15 year note. That would be a little conspiracy theorist of me, but otherwise, I don't know why else they would not want to.
Stepping back, we have our home loan through Loan Depot, we have now been in this house since 2007 and although it is not perfect, in general, we love this house. It is big, we never feel like we are in each other's space, sometimes I think I would like a newer home, due to rising costs, I don't think we could do better in this area. If we hadn't refinanced in 2015-16, we might not even be interested in doing this, when we bought the house in 2007, we had a mortgage signed for 30 years which would coincide with me turning 65 about the time we finished paying. But, after refinancing, the clock started over and now I would be around 75. I hope I may still be around then, but I definitely don't want to still have to be dragging my ass into the night shift then.
Because of this, I decided we needed to pay off the house sooner than anticipated. Since we have no discipline to just get our shit together and pay more each month, I thought it would be better to sign a 15 year note. At 48, we could be done by the time I turn 63 which is a couple years shorter then the original note would've been. Curiously, we refinanced because our mortgage had creeped up from when we moved in initially paying around $2400, to almost $3300. The refinance brought it back in line to a reasonable payment of $2600. Over the last 4 years, we have been able to keep it there, by paying the increases the escrow suggests.
Technically, we weren't denied, they just suggested we pay the solar panels with the mortgage instead of paying some credit debt we have that I want to get rid of. We owe roughly $30K to either the solar panels which we are on a payment plan of 10 more years at $311, and we owe roughly $30k to about 3 credit cards to which we pay $1100. Which $30K does it make more sense to pay off if we have about $30K in equity we could/should be able to borrow? I thought it was our money to do with as we saw fit. This was decided and told to us after dragging us along since October, when we started the process and the first thing I told them was that I wanted to get rid of this credit card debt. Like I said, they get more from us by keeping us on a 30 year note than actually helping us and moving us to a lower interest rate and shorter time.
Not to worry, another mortgage company came a calling, many did, but it is hard to focus on all as each requires its own independent house appraisal at $500 a pop. It is kind of a pain, but I still feel we can get this done and I can get us on a fifteen year note so we can pay off the house before we turn 65. For all I know we may decide to sell and move down to the coast in ten years, but it should be on our terms, not what some mortgage company says.
Stepping back, we have our home loan through Loan Depot, we have now been in this house since 2007 and although it is not perfect, in general, we love this house. It is big, we never feel like we are in each other's space, sometimes I think I would like a newer home, due to rising costs, I don't think we could do better in this area. If we hadn't refinanced in 2015-16, we might not even be interested in doing this, when we bought the house in 2007, we had a mortgage signed for 30 years which would coincide with me turning 65 about the time we finished paying. But, after refinancing, the clock started over and now I would be around 75. I hope I may still be around then, but I definitely don't want to still have to be dragging my ass into the night shift then.
Because of this, I decided we needed to pay off the house sooner than anticipated. Since we have no discipline to just get our shit together and pay more each month, I thought it would be better to sign a 15 year note. At 48, we could be done by the time I turn 63 which is a couple years shorter then the original note would've been. Curiously, we refinanced because our mortgage had creeped up from when we moved in initially paying around $2400, to almost $3300. The refinance brought it back in line to a reasonable payment of $2600. Over the last 4 years, we have been able to keep it there, by paying the increases the escrow suggests.
Technically, we weren't denied, they just suggested we pay the solar panels with the mortgage instead of paying some credit debt we have that I want to get rid of. We owe roughly $30K to either the solar panels which we are on a payment plan of 10 more years at $311, and we owe roughly $30k to about 3 credit cards to which we pay $1100. Which $30K does it make more sense to pay off if we have about $30K in equity we could/should be able to borrow? I thought it was our money to do with as we saw fit. This was decided and told to us after dragging us along since October, when we started the process and the first thing I told them was that I wanted to get rid of this credit card debt. Like I said, they get more from us by keeping us on a 30 year note than actually helping us and moving us to a lower interest rate and shorter time.
Not to worry, another mortgage company came a calling, many did, but it is hard to focus on all as each requires its own independent house appraisal at $500 a pop. It is kind of a pain, but I still feel we can get this done and I can get us on a fifteen year note so we can pay off the house before we turn 65. For all I know we may decide to sell and move down to the coast in ten years, but it should be on our terms, not what some mortgage company says.
2/27/20 Getting Our Kia Back?
I have not had time to write, I am at least three days behind. But, that is life. So, we got our car back on Thursday. The "new" used engine did not arrive to the dealership until Monday morning and that is when the service technician called. I managed to play phone tag for a while before I got a hold of him and OK'd the install. He said it might be ready by the end of the day or the next day at the latest. Wife had already decided to rent another rental to get through her week, so there was no real rush until Thursday when she was going to be back in town.
She arrived Wednesday night, but being I ate a bowl of cereal for dinner, she didn't arrive with too much energy, certainly not any to go chasing after her car that night, besides I was at work, so it would have been real tough to get things done. As a side note, I spent two hours of my sleep time talking to a new loan officer from another refinance company starting the whole process anew. I was not well mentally to be thinking about driving here and there.
Thursday was not much better. Wife needed to return her rental by 4:00pm out in Kyle, and as far as I knew the maintenance shop at Kia closed at 4:30pm. I got up at 3:00pm and told Wife if she was ready to go. As usual, she is putting on make-up in her birthday suit and seemed in no rush. I got up and had these times to worry about which I don't think she knew as she seemed to be in no hurry.
We finally got going, picking up the car was no problem on Sunday because we were going that way to my recital. Dropping off the car, it seemed like a totally far distance to drive to. We got there, after stopping to fuel up, Wife went in, signed whatever paperwork and then we headed to Kia, for the big reveal. I dropped her off at Kia and was going to take off, but then felt like there might be problems, so I parked and walked to the back. Her card was not working. We luckily had the money in our savings, good thing we had been saving for Disney because we don't have any other credit cards to help in these situations. I sarcastically was telling the dude that while they are pouring champagne and celebrating with our money, our babies are going another year with no Disney, so I hope y'all feel good about that. He was quick enough to say "nah, with your money, we (the guys in the service shop) are going to Disney. It helped ease the tension of kissing away so much money.
It took a minute, I guess the card is designed with a max of so much money and the total of $5860, or thereabouts was too much and the card kept getting declined. Wife eventually called our bank and got it all squared away. The car is driving solid, almost like we didn't even change anything. Wife has already hit the highway to San Antonio and back and she said it seems a tad stronger or something like that. I just hope it holds up for as long as it takes for us to finish the refinance and get to trade it in for something more robust.
She arrived Wednesday night, but being I ate a bowl of cereal for dinner, she didn't arrive with too much energy, certainly not any to go chasing after her car that night, besides I was at work, so it would have been real tough to get things done. As a side note, I spent two hours of my sleep time talking to a new loan officer from another refinance company starting the whole process anew. I was not well mentally to be thinking about driving here and there.
Thursday was not much better. Wife needed to return her rental by 4:00pm out in Kyle, and as far as I knew the maintenance shop at Kia closed at 4:30pm. I got up at 3:00pm and told Wife if she was ready to go. As usual, she is putting on make-up in her birthday suit and seemed in no rush. I got up and had these times to worry about which I don't think she knew as she seemed to be in no hurry.
We finally got going, picking up the car was no problem on Sunday because we were going that way to my recital. Dropping off the car, it seemed like a totally far distance to drive to. We got there, after stopping to fuel up, Wife went in, signed whatever paperwork and then we headed to Kia, for the big reveal. I dropped her off at Kia and was going to take off, but then felt like there might be problems, so I parked and walked to the back. Her card was not working. We luckily had the money in our savings, good thing we had been saving for Disney because we don't have any other credit cards to help in these situations. I sarcastically was telling the dude that while they are pouring champagne and celebrating with our money, our babies are going another year with no Disney, so I hope y'all feel good about that. He was quick enough to say "nah, with your money, we (the guys in the service shop) are going to Disney. It helped ease the tension of kissing away so much money.
It took a minute, I guess the card is designed with a max of so much money and the total of $5860, or thereabouts was too much and the card kept getting declined. Wife eventually called our bank and got it all squared away. The car is driving solid, almost like we didn't even change anything. Wife has already hit the highway to San Antonio and back and she said it seems a tad stronger or something like that. I just hope it holds up for as long as it takes for us to finish the refinance and get to trade it in for something more robust.
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
2/26/20 Safety Eventually?
They say safety first, but we are way past that. Still, Wife has been taking courses dealing with safety and it has now spilt our way. The one new worry is Boy treating the room next to his as his lab with 4 3D printers running at times, there is a bit of concern of a fire, at least for us, if not for Boy. We ended up buying a pretty good sized fire extinguisher with an attachment to hang on the wall. Hopefully, this never gets used, but like good insurance you are better off having it and not using it than needing it and not having it.
The other more interesting thing we bought and I really hope we never have to use them are ladders for each boy's room, which are hung on a windowsill to escape outside. The thought is if a fire breaks out and the boys can't make their way out of their rooms because the fire is on the stairs, then go out your window to safety. The room where Boy put his printers has the door closest to the stairwell, so if a fire did break out and they couldn't come down that way, at least they have a back up. The emergency stairs were only $39.99, but they have a length of 12 feet, will hold up to 1200 pounds, and simply stay in the box until needed. I told them we would at least practice once or twice them coming down the thing just so they know how to work it. My thought before was they could just jump out the window, if they hang them selves out, the are only 7 or 8 feet from the grass, they wouldn't die by falling and an even broken leg is much better than letting the smoke get you. But this is better, it is proactive and gives them a solution, if it is ever needed.
We personally did not get a ladder for our room, we have the roof of the patio right off one of our windows and I think I would climb onto it and jump down to the trampoline which is right below. It would probably tear through, but I think it would break my fall enough. Wife was also talking about having a place to meet in case of an emergency. I always just assumed to meet under the street light if we ever got in that kind of a situation, but it is something we should discuss.
She wants to get even deeper into this, like where would we meet if there is a city wide emergency and we are all separated with no phones. I would have to go find Javalina, first of all, he has no car and I am not evacuating the city without him. Maybe with Boy driving we could decide to meet at Cabela's or some large place like that. But he would be as concerned for Sweetie, so would be another thing. Currently, with Wife three hours away, it would be best if she didn't freaking scare us this way, but this world we live in is full of a-holes intent on fucking up our way of being.
Oh yeah, we also got a few more flashlights, because they are always a good idea and it makes Wife feel better. Of course, she buys the cheapest ones, that I am sure in an emergency won't work. I buy the more expensive ones that when the time comes to needing them, we won't have the hundreds of batteries required to keep them going.
The other more interesting thing we bought and I really hope we never have to use them are ladders for each boy's room, which are hung on a windowsill to escape outside. The thought is if a fire breaks out and the boys can't make their way out of their rooms because the fire is on the stairs, then go out your window to safety. The room where Boy put his printers has the door closest to the stairwell, so if a fire did break out and they couldn't come down that way, at least they have a back up. The emergency stairs were only $39.99, but they have a length of 12 feet, will hold up to 1200 pounds, and simply stay in the box until needed. I told them we would at least practice once or twice them coming down the thing just so they know how to work it. My thought before was they could just jump out the window, if they hang them selves out, the are only 7 or 8 feet from the grass, they wouldn't die by falling and an even broken leg is much better than letting the smoke get you. But this is better, it is proactive and gives them a solution, if it is ever needed.
We personally did not get a ladder for our room, we have the roof of the patio right off one of our windows and I think I would climb onto it and jump down to the trampoline which is right below. It would probably tear through, but I think it would break my fall enough. Wife was also talking about having a place to meet in case of an emergency. I always just assumed to meet under the street light if we ever got in that kind of a situation, but it is something we should discuss.
She wants to get even deeper into this, like where would we meet if there is a city wide emergency and we are all separated with no phones. I would have to go find Javalina, first of all, he has no car and I am not evacuating the city without him. Maybe with Boy driving we could decide to meet at Cabela's or some large place like that. But he would be as concerned for Sweetie, so would be another thing. Currently, with Wife three hours away, it would be best if she didn't freaking scare us this way, but this world we live in is full of a-holes intent on fucking up our way of being.
Oh yeah, we also got a few more flashlights, because they are always a good idea and it makes Wife feel better. Of course, she buys the cheapest ones, that I am sure in an emergency won't work. I buy the more expensive ones that when the time comes to needing them, we won't have the hundreds of batteries required to keep them going.
Monday, February 24, 2020
2/24/20 T-Minus Three Hours To Concert TIme?
I know this is a fun thing, and I really do enjoy sitting there playing the music. I can also say I have figured out 95% of the music. The last little bits I plan on faking and playing extra soft or not playing as to not sound off. Saying all this, I still had the hardest time sleeping last night. We kept it simple and Wife just made some steak strips which we ate as tacos here with some Big Red and chips. I must have drank most of the 2 liter bottle, which I knew would just mean it would come right out.
Of course it can't just be worry about the concert, that would be too easy. Wife still needs a car, with hers in the shop getting a new engine installed and Boy saying he really needs his car to get to classes and start interviewing. She found another car rental place, a lot closer to us than the airport. I also told her to not get the cheapest car on there, make yourself comfortable. Is there a big difference between $168 for the Ford Fiesta or $190 for the Ford Fusion (for the 4 days she plans on using it)? The car is twice as big. We have until noon to go pick up the car, so it will cut right into my concentration and relaxing time, but oh well, I don't need none of that.
I guess the T-minus 3 hours thing is for the time I have to be there. They want us there at 1:00pm and they said there would be pizza and drinks, nice for us, but that is not good for any of the instruments. Knowing this, I bought some of those tiny disposable toothbrushes to clean my mouth and hopefully not put sugars down the saxophone.
I feel like my knee is hurting less and less, but now the other one is hurting somewhat, which I feel is from it doing more work. I am relying on it to help me stand up from the sitting position. Yesterday, I honestly felt it was colder sitting than standing, but at least with sitting I was off my feet and legs which was nice, but freezing. I ended up standing a lot more than I wanted too, and that was not fun on my joints.
It is now 10:20am and I probably have to go upstairs to cut my hair, it's been three weeks, I think. I probably have to do something about my pooping. I haven't in a day and a half, I am pretty normal, just occasionally it all shuts down. Along with that, I think my pants need to be ironed. I had already ironed my shirt last week, maybe the pants are iron free.
I am stressing myself for no reason. As the guy who got me to join said, this is just a community orchestra, it is all in fun. We are not being judged or scored.
(Post Concert, written Sunday Night) I felt like the weight of the world on me as I had to be the good husband and drive Wife to the rental car place, then head to my location for a start time of 1:00pm. I felt like I was getting there late, but the conductor pulled up at the same time I did, so 10 minutes late wasn't too bad. I managed to eat a slice of pizza and drink the smallest cup of soda, they only had these 6 oz chubby glasses, like for punch or something. I felt bad afterwards because of all the sugars I was introducing to my horn in the name of a snack. Everyone seemed to be in a pleasant mood, it helped me stay relaxed.
Of course it can't just be worry about the concert, that would be too easy. Wife still needs a car, with hers in the shop getting a new engine installed and Boy saying he really needs his car to get to classes and start interviewing. She found another car rental place, a lot closer to us than the airport. I also told her to not get the cheapest car on there, make yourself comfortable. Is there a big difference between $168 for the Ford Fiesta or $190 for the Ford Fusion (for the 4 days she plans on using it)? The car is twice as big. We have until noon to go pick up the car, so it will cut right into my concentration and relaxing time, but oh well, I don't need none of that.
I guess the T-minus 3 hours thing is for the time I have to be there. They want us there at 1:00pm and they said there would be pizza and drinks, nice for us, but that is not good for any of the instruments. Knowing this, I bought some of those tiny disposable toothbrushes to clean my mouth and hopefully not put sugars down the saxophone.
I feel like my knee is hurting less and less, but now the other one is hurting somewhat, which I feel is from it doing more work. I am relying on it to help me stand up from the sitting position. Yesterday, I honestly felt it was colder sitting than standing, but at least with sitting I was off my feet and legs which was nice, but freezing. I ended up standing a lot more than I wanted too, and that was not fun on my joints.
It is now 10:20am and I probably have to go upstairs to cut my hair, it's been three weeks, I think. I probably have to do something about my pooping. I haven't in a day and a half, I am pretty normal, just occasionally it all shuts down. Along with that, I think my pants need to be ironed. I had already ironed my shirt last week, maybe the pants are iron free.
I am stressing myself for no reason. As the guy who got me to join said, this is just a community orchestra, it is all in fun. We are not being judged or scored.
(Post Concert, written Sunday Night) I felt like the weight of the world on me as I had to be the good husband and drive Wife to the rental car place, then head to my location for a start time of 1:00pm. I felt like I was getting there late, but the conductor pulled up at the same time I did, so 10 minutes late wasn't too bad. I managed to eat a slice of pizza and drink the smallest cup of soda, they only had these 6 oz chubby glasses, like for punch or something. I felt bad afterwards because of all the sugars I was introducing to my horn in the name of a snack. Everyone seemed to be in a pleasant mood, it helped me stay relaxed.
2/25/20 The Concert Itself?
So maybe I was 10 minutes late for the pizza party, the dress rehearsal was at 1:30pm, I was there perfect for that. The one thing I hated was that the room where we were to place our cases and extra stuff was on the second floor and walking in the front door, I wasn't going to look for an elevator. I just grumbled to myself and made it slowly up the stairs (my right knee has been in pain). The room was huge and there were maybe 10 boxes of pizza and a bunch of 3 liter soda bottles. Some people ate, others talked, I did the minimum of both and then made my way to the big church room, where we played.
I have to say the 1st Baptist Church is a fine facility. It looks new-ish and like a good buck or two were spent there. Everywhere, the ceilings are extra tall, from the entrance where the stairs seemed to lead up to the third story without a 2nd story to the actual room where we played which had the feel of a good sized concert hall. I arrived by myself and followed along as I was supposed to. Wife showed up about 2:30pm, the concert started at 3:00pm. Once I saw them walking in, from the stage, I could then see my in-laws trailing behind them by a few minutes. This made them all go back out to the entrance area so they could talk and not distract our dress rehearsal.
We went through all the music pieces one last time, from top to bottom. Like I said, once I decided I wasn't going to worry about being perfect, I found it quite enjoyable. Stand By You, for example had 6 sharps, which meant most every note had to be played differently. They told us this was done because the singers sing in whatever key, I just know this made the song extra hard. Anyway, I just played extra soft where I wasn't sure and a little louder where I was. We went through all 7 songs in about an hour, then we were given a 20-30 minute break.
Everyone seems so comfortable to leave their instruments just on the ground or on their chairs. I decided I would just keep mine strapped to my neck and carry it down. I went down to say hi to my people, my in-laws seemed very excited, my older sister in law was talking about wanting to break out her clarinet after hearing me do this.
Suddenly, Wife said it was 2:59pm, I made my way up and the next 40-50 minutes were just a blur of play and wait. We would play a song and the conductor would tell a little about its history. Before I knew it, we were done and it felt like Mission Accomplished. I had seen some of their concerts from other years and this one had the most people, from what I could tell. I brought enough people to fill a whole pew, so that was my contribution.
I thanked the guy that got me involved for letting me be a part of this amazing experience and then I said what happens next, we just chill and you will contact us? He said yes, that is generally how it goes. He gave me one of those "you'll be back?" I said "yeah, I loved this." Another lady, I am not even sure what she plays also asked/told me "you'll be back?!" almost as a question, but kind of like a demand. I smiled and said "yes, I am in, this is my kind of thing."
It was very interesting on FB after, Wife put a few clips and pictures and she got about 60 people liking and commenting. It was pretty cool to be clapped on by some of the people in band from back in my high school days. I wish I could reach out and motivate those few players that really had a passion, that they would just get up and join. It has been a really good thing, for me. The only bad thing is the school isn't buying me a big ole baritone saxophone and it kind of hurts that they run close to $8,000 for a good one, but now I have a hobby.
I have to say the 1st Baptist Church is a fine facility. It looks new-ish and like a good buck or two were spent there. Everywhere, the ceilings are extra tall, from the entrance where the stairs seemed to lead up to the third story without a 2nd story to the actual room where we played which had the feel of a good sized concert hall. I arrived by myself and followed along as I was supposed to. Wife showed up about 2:30pm, the concert started at 3:00pm. Once I saw them walking in, from the stage, I could then see my in-laws trailing behind them by a few minutes. This made them all go back out to the entrance area so they could talk and not distract our dress rehearsal.
We went through all the music pieces one last time, from top to bottom. Like I said, once I decided I wasn't going to worry about being perfect, I found it quite enjoyable. Stand By You, for example had 6 sharps, which meant most every note had to be played differently. They told us this was done because the singers sing in whatever key, I just know this made the song extra hard. Anyway, I just played extra soft where I wasn't sure and a little louder where I was. We went through all 7 songs in about an hour, then we were given a 20-30 minute break.
Everyone seems so comfortable to leave their instruments just on the ground or on their chairs. I decided I would just keep mine strapped to my neck and carry it down. I went down to say hi to my people, my in-laws seemed very excited, my older sister in law was talking about wanting to break out her clarinet after hearing me do this.
Suddenly, Wife said it was 2:59pm, I made my way up and the next 40-50 minutes were just a blur of play and wait. We would play a song and the conductor would tell a little about its history. Before I knew it, we were done and it felt like Mission Accomplished. I had seen some of their concerts from other years and this one had the most people, from what I could tell. I brought enough people to fill a whole pew, so that was my contribution.
I thanked the guy that got me involved for letting me be a part of this amazing experience and then I said what happens next, we just chill and you will contact us? He said yes, that is generally how it goes. He gave me one of those "you'll be back?" I said "yeah, I loved this." Another lady, I am not even sure what she plays also asked/told me "you'll be back?!" almost as a question, but kind of like a demand. I smiled and said "yes, I am in, this is my kind of thing."
It was very interesting on FB after, Wife put a few clips and pictures and she got about 60 people liking and commenting. It was pretty cool to be clapped on by some of the people in band from back in my high school days. I wish I could reach out and motivate those few players that really had a passion, that they would just get up and join. It has been a really good thing, for me. The only bad thing is the school isn't buying me a big ole baritone saxophone and it kind of hurts that they run close to $8,000 for a good one, but now I have a hobby.
Sunday, February 23, 2020
2/23/20 1st Track Meet, Dripping Springs? (2 of 2)
Javalina didn't place in the shotput, but managed to land about 11th place in the discus, which was surprising, considering he didn't even want to throw it. Honestly, I am glad he is throwing with the JV squad. He acts like an authority, he is comfortable with his buddy, the other lineman throwing with him. He says they bench about the same, so he considers him his equal although he needs to do better on the squat. While the JV boys were throwing the shotput, the varsity boys were throwing the discus, so they are kept far apart. You could tell when the varsity guys came over, they are just so much bigger and thicker, almost like grown men. My son is 15 and clearly has room to grow, even the super tall JV boys look awkward, like they need to fill in and thicken up, but the varsity boys are almost scary big.
It doesn't help that as Wife was saying, this was a tournament with a bunch of 6A schools. Each school has at least 2,290 kids to choose from. Crockett HS is relatively smaller as it will now be a 4A school with a population between 500 and 1200 or so. Still, Mijo might get beat, but his confidence and swagger are ill affected. He still insists he could throw farther than the other guys, I am over here thinking "umm, you didn't place, Knucklehead."
Once he got done with the discus, we were ready to get out of Dodge. It seems that the more the sun came up, the more the wind blew. We invited his friend along for a ride home, and he took it. At one point it was announced that the track events were not starting until 3:00pm. What kind of game is that on a kids mind? Wake him up before 6:30am so he can run and compete at 3:00pm?
As badly as I felt for the kids left behind, they are young and strong, so maybe it didn't affect them as bad as us, the wind, I mean. I was just glad to get out of the bad weather and back to our sanctuary. Wife drove, and although I didn't plan on it, I fell asleep hard. Next thing I knew, we were by the wing place close to our house, but the way Wife parked, I had no idea where we were for a second.
We had a decent lunch, along with Javalina's friend and then we took him home. I love coming home after a rough outing. We were only out there three hours, but it was enough for me. We slept probably until 5:00pm, then we were able to go about our day. Wife wanted to go to Lowe's, we have been infested by flying ants, so we got an ant killer which she has been spraying around the kitchen, no doubt, reducing our lives in the process, most likely. We got some other interesting stuff, but I think that is best for another blog.
It doesn't help that as Wife was saying, this was a tournament with a bunch of 6A schools. Each school has at least 2,290 kids to choose from. Crockett HS is relatively smaller as it will now be a 4A school with a population between 500 and 1200 or so. Still, Mijo might get beat, but his confidence and swagger are ill affected. He still insists he could throw farther than the other guys, I am over here thinking "umm, you didn't place, Knucklehead."
Once he got done with the discus, we were ready to get out of Dodge. It seems that the more the sun came up, the more the wind blew. We invited his friend along for a ride home, and he took it. At one point it was announced that the track events were not starting until 3:00pm. What kind of game is that on a kids mind? Wake him up before 6:30am so he can run and compete at 3:00pm?
As badly as I felt for the kids left behind, they are young and strong, so maybe it didn't affect them as bad as us, the wind, I mean. I was just glad to get out of the bad weather and back to our sanctuary. Wife drove, and although I didn't plan on it, I fell asleep hard. Next thing I knew, we were by the wing place close to our house, but the way Wife parked, I had no idea where we were for a second.
We had a decent lunch, along with Javalina's friend and then we took him home. I love coming home after a rough outing. We were only out there three hours, but it was enough for me. We slept probably until 5:00pm, then we were able to go about our day. Wife wanted to go to Lowe's, we have been infested by flying ants, so we got an ant killer which she has been spraying around the kitchen, no doubt, reducing our lives in the process, most likely. We got some other interesting stuff, but I think that is best for another blog.
Saturday, February 22, 2020
2/22/20 !st Track Meet, Dripping Springs? (1 of 2)
Man, parents who participate do not get enough credit. Javalina had his first tourney today and man, it was a little rough on everybody. First off, he had to be at Crockett by 6:30am, so it means I had to get up at 6:00am to take him. If that wasn't rough enough, he wanted me to double check on him as he was getting up at 4:00am to get mentally ready, shower and do whatever else it takes. As bad as that was, we got it done. I came back thinking I would maybe hang out, write a blog before we left, but out of nowhere my warmups must have caught that hole thingy in my leg just right and blood started pouring out like I was a can of Big Red tilted over. I yelled at Wife and Boy until eventually Boy came down and he ran up and got my supplies which luckily I kept some (I expected this would happen again).
We still managed to get going by 7:50am, we were aiming for before 8:00am, because they were starting at 9:00am and going by last year, our son likes to throw first and get done. It seems like Dripping Springs is a world away, but by Google, it is only 26 miles and it should take 36 minutes. I had planned on driving, but with my bleeding I let Wife take over, the leg was not a problem the rest of the day, although I still smell a faint Fe in the air.
I have to hand it to Dripping Springs, as much as I thought they played dirty in the last game of the season, they have one of the prettiest campuses I have ever been on. There was the large football stadium with its bleachers like a small college programs, a separate football field with the track the meet was held on. Between the fields was a lot open space where two shotput fields were set up and two discus fields on opposite corners on a field that would fit another football field. As usual, I felt bad for our guys, who we always seem to be with the poor school. One school had four RVs set up in a square, obviously the parents brought these in to provide shelter for their kids. There were tents and then some schools had canopies with coolers for food and drinks. The poor Crockett kids were huddled on a hill which probably broke the wind a bit. The worst part was the wind whipping and biting.
Javalina at least started right at 9:00am with the shotput. The discus was then started around 10:30am. Although Javalina prefers and mostly talks about the shotput, he did not place. It is tough to gauge how they are really doing. It is too early in the season, for shotput, there is a technique to throwing and it involves a glide back or some students of the sport choose to throw it by spinning. It was so early in the season, most kids were only going up there and throwing from a standing position. I love the fact that these boys are basically all the best of the linemen from each school's football team. They are all big husky boys, even without all the extra padding. con't.
We still managed to get going by 7:50am, we were aiming for before 8:00am, because they were starting at 9:00am and going by last year, our son likes to throw first and get done. It seems like Dripping Springs is a world away, but by Google, it is only 26 miles and it should take 36 minutes. I had planned on driving, but with my bleeding I let Wife take over, the leg was not a problem the rest of the day, although I still smell a faint Fe in the air.
I have to hand it to Dripping Springs, as much as I thought they played dirty in the last game of the season, they have one of the prettiest campuses I have ever been on. There was the large football stadium with its bleachers like a small college programs, a separate football field with the track the meet was held on. Between the fields was a lot open space where two shotput fields were set up and two discus fields on opposite corners on a field that would fit another football field. As usual, I felt bad for our guys, who we always seem to be with the poor school. One school had four RVs set up in a square, obviously the parents brought these in to provide shelter for their kids. There were tents and then some schools had canopies with coolers for food and drinks. The poor Crockett kids were huddled on a hill which probably broke the wind a bit. The worst part was the wind whipping and biting.
Javalina at least started right at 9:00am with the shotput. The discus was then started around 10:30am. Although Javalina prefers and mostly talks about the shotput, he did not place. It is tough to gauge how they are really doing. It is too early in the season, for shotput, there is a technique to throwing and it involves a glide back or some students of the sport choose to throw it by spinning. It was so early in the season, most kids were only going up there and throwing from a standing position. I love the fact that these boys are basically all the best of the linemen from each school's football team. They are all big husky boys, even without all the extra padding. con't.
Friday, February 21, 2020
2/21/20 Just Keep Moving, Just Keep Moving?
Recently, I have barely been able to function, I don't know what is really going on. I am falling behind on writing my blogs, then I have to write multiple ones to catch up. Maybe it is that my mind is distracted with the orchestra stuff, but I am barely doing anything great about it, other than thinking about it.
I am in a weird limbo where in my head we should be free of so many debts and crap, but nothing seems to have changed. We have been getting rid of credit cards and I will speak to that soon, but what I thought would be done by now is just getting dragged along where it won't just die. I keep telling Wife this is the year we are finally free financially, then Boy gets furloughed, so luckily he didn't move out or buy any new cars, but we are still helping out and I am still paying for his car. Add to that, Wife's car suddenly gave out with no warning, boom, engine just burned up and we need a new one, now. How great that we had just saved up $6000 because that is how much the stupid used engine will cost.
I am trying to stay positive about this, yet, we are still also waiting on this refinance that we started in October. Anybody else does this, they are done the next month or two. Here we are, almost 6 months working on it. They told me last week this was it, I told them good, I need to buy a car, because of Wife's problems. Today, they say buy the car, we will work around it, it will be another week or two. Maybe the refinance happens in March, maybe not.
I know that the best medicine is time. Boy is already getting calls for interviews, he said Intel and IBM both wanted to interview him, and they are both in town so I couldn't ask for better companies to work for. We will overcome Wife's car and she will most probably end up driving something a little bigger, I really liked an Explorer we looked at last weekend.
Javalina is finally back to doing well in his classes. His Algebra II class finally has a decent premanent teacher and our son is back to understanding the material. He has his first track meet this Saturday, it kind of sucks that it starts at 6:30am for them. We have to be there at 9:00am, if we want to see him throw, at least when he is done, we can leave and not be there all day.
Whether I like it or not, this Sunday is my first Orchestra recital. I need to practice the musical pieces a little more, but nothing too scary anymore. There was one song giving trouble, but it all seemed to work out. I guess that is how life is, sometimes we just fake it til we make it, sometimes we fall a step behind so we double time it and sometimes we just admit we are getting our ass kicked and continue anyway because that is what one does.
I am in a weird limbo where in my head we should be free of so many debts and crap, but nothing seems to have changed. We have been getting rid of credit cards and I will speak to that soon, but what I thought would be done by now is just getting dragged along where it won't just die. I keep telling Wife this is the year we are finally free financially, then Boy gets furloughed, so luckily he didn't move out or buy any new cars, but we are still helping out and I am still paying for his car. Add to that, Wife's car suddenly gave out with no warning, boom, engine just burned up and we need a new one, now. How great that we had just saved up $6000 because that is how much the stupid used engine will cost.
I am trying to stay positive about this, yet, we are still also waiting on this refinance that we started in October. Anybody else does this, they are done the next month or two. Here we are, almost 6 months working on it. They told me last week this was it, I told them good, I need to buy a car, because of Wife's problems. Today, they say buy the car, we will work around it, it will be another week or two. Maybe the refinance happens in March, maybe not.
I know that the best medicine is time. Boy is already getting calls for interviews, he said Intel and IBM both wanted to interview him, and they are both in town so I couldn't ask for better companies to work for. We will overcome Wife's car and she will most probably end up driving something a little bigger, I really liked an Explorer we looked at last weekend.
Javalina is finally back to doing well in his classes. His Algebra II class finally has a decent premanent teacher and our son is back to understanding the material. He has his first track meet this Saturday, it kind of sucks that it starts at 6:30am for them. We have to be there at 9:00am, if we want to see him throw, at least when he is done, we can leave and not be there all day.
Whether I like it or not, this Sunday is my first Orchestra recital. I need to practice the musical pieces a little more, but nothing too scary anymore. There was one song giving trouble, but it all seemed to work out. I guess that is how life is, sometimes we just fake it til we make it, sometimes we fall a step behind so we double time it and sometimes we just admit we are getting our ass kicked and continue anyway because that is what one does.
2/20/20 Playing Hooky, Sort Of?
I never miss work, even when I am feeling like crap, I usually rally and drag myself in. This Monday, was kind of a first for me. I slept but not really enough to overcome and work all night. It has been tough with the worry over what to do about Wife's car. We got up Monday morning with an idea. I had the thought that if we put the used engine they were willing to sell to us and install for under $6,000 that the car would be whole again and could at least get a valuation somewhere close to what the Kelly Blue Book might be. I mean even at the Ford dealership they said they could not take the Soul as a trade if it wasn't in driving condition.
We walked into the sales side and asked the same man who I was introduced as a very competent man, he seemed solid and mentioned God at least ten times, so you know he was of the earth and there to help us the best he could. He suggested we not even try to fix the other car, it made no sense. The best deal for us would be to put that $6000 towards a down payment to offset the costs of a new vehicle. The closest we saw to what Wife had wanted in the Telluride section was one worth $39,995. We sat there and waited patiently, and after seeing what he could do, our car was valued at $500, I believe, plus the cost of the new car and I don't know what else, but he was expecting us to pay close to $1000 a month for 75 months plus the $6000. I about choked on those numbers and we left a little defeated but it seemed like our best decision would be to fix the car.
After leaving there, we had to run over to my son's school. He had a day off from school, but it was a meet the teacher's kind of thing and most of them were in the cafeteria so it was pretty easy to talk to all the people molding our young knucklehead. I love hearing that pretty much all the teachers love having him in class. One of them even said "I wish I had ten of him versus some of the other students I have to deal with." That is always my favorite line, I used to get it myself. We finally met his new algebra II teacher and you can see in his eyes he is excited to be teaching and Javalina likes him.
My favorite part was running into one of the coaches and when I asked him for an assessment of our young warrior, he quickly said "wait, go over to our corner, you'll get all the coaches opinions." There were 3-4 coaches sitting in one corner and it was fun hearing them poking fun at Javalina. They all love his attitude, and have taken notice that he is working very hard in the weight room. I asked about possibly moving him to linebacker since we all see he is a little short to be a lineman at the next level, but they said he has a lot of grit and he gets low and has good stamina. They like him as a guard going forward unless he can really get fast on his lateral movement if he wants to move to linebacker. They all teased him a bit, but I can tell he fits right in and the coaches enjoy having him around.
By the time we got done, it was time to go eat a lunch and we headed to Culver's. I must have been around 4:00pm and I decided I would take the day off. It felt so liberating, Wife was around, we ate without rushing, like we always do. We even sat and had a sundae after our burgers, it was nice. I am not sure what else we did, but having her home was the main reason for staying, it was just one of those take it easy kind of afternoons.
We walked into the sales side and asked the same man who I was introduced as a very competent man, he seemed solid and mentioned God at least ten times, so you know he was of the earth and there to help us the best he could. He suggested we not even try to fix the other car, it made no sense. The best deal for us would be to put that $6000 towards a down payment to offset the costs of a new vehicle. The closest we saw to what Wife had wanted in the Telluride section was one worth $39,995. We sat there and waited patiently, and after seeing what he could do, our car was valued at $500, I believe, plus the cost of the new car and I don't know what else, but he was expecting us to pay close to $1000 a month for 75 months plus the $6000. I about choked on those numbers and we left a little defeated but it seemed like our best decision would be to fix the car.
After leaving there, we had to run over to my son's school. He had a day off from school, but it was a meet the teacher's kind of thing and most of them were in the cafeteria so it was pretty easy to talk to all the people molding our young knucklehead. I love hearing that pretty much all the teachers love having him in class. One of them even said "I wish I had ten of him versus some of the other students I have to deal with." That is always my favorite line, I used to get it myself. We finally met his new algebra II teacher and you can see in his eyes he is excited to be teaching and Javalina likes him.
My favorite part was running into one of the coaches and when I asked him for an assessment of our young warrior, he quickly said "wait, go over to our corner, you'll get all the coaches opinions." There were 3-4 coaches sitting in one corner and it was fun hearing them poking fun at Javalina. They all love his attitude, and have taken notice that he is working very hard in the weight room. I asked about possibly moving him to linebacker since we all see he is a little short to be a lineman at the next level, but they said he has a lot of grit and he gets low and has good stamina. They like him as a guard going forward unless he can really get fast on his lateral movement if he wants to move to linebacker. They all teased him a bit, but I can tell he fits right in and the coaches enjoy having him around.
By the time we got done, it was time to go eat a lunch and we headed to Culver's. I must have been around 4:00pm and I decided I would take the day off. It felt so liberating, Wife was around, we ate without rushing, like we always do. We even sat and had a sundae after our burgers, it was nice. I am not sure what else we did, but having her home was the main reason for staying, it was just one of those take it easy kind of afternoons.
Wednesday, February 19, 2020
2/19/20 Fixing Our Kia Soul?
It is not what I would prefer but I don't think we have a choice. We are going to have to fix the Kia Soul, I guess with a used engine as they offered. We went in to talk to them and the salesman was trying to be friendly enough, he certainly kept saying he was a man of God and all that good rhetoric, but in the end, he was offering us something like $500 for our car since it is basically worth nothing in a non-running condition. I mean I know it needs an engine, but the car is still solid, the interior is still like new, the leather is in great shape, the A/C works along with everything else. Trying to see what would happen if we aimed for a Telluride, and they only had two to choose from, so we chose the nicer one at $39,900. After working some numbers and a good hour or so, he came back with numbers like payments in the $900's, whether we were doing 75 months and also giving some where between $6000 and 10,000 down.
I wanted to do the same thing at Ford, at least get a number of how much a month it would cost, but the guy said they could not take the car if it wasn't retail-able. This makes sense to me, I almost wanted to try Carmax which did say they would take the car in any condition, but they would probably offer us $500 too.
So I told Wife that we should just fix the car and drive it for awhile. If she likes it and feels ok, then we keep it, maybe until the end of the year. I told her she should trade with Boy weekly so that she splits the load of running back and forth between the two cars. Hopefully, it can make her Kia last a little longer this time. We will surely be looking at the oil more frequently.
We haven't been playing games with the service shop, but in our indecision, they have come back twice with lower numbers to do the work on installing the new engine. The engine itself is used and the first quote was for $5,000. This would have come with a 12month/12 thousand mile warranty. I asked the service guy if he couldn't do any better, maybe even find a cheaper motor. He called a little later that the lady with the used motor was willing to let it go for $4,000, but no warranty of. This does not sound cool, but it is a lot cheaper. Originally, it was going to be $4,000 plus another $3,000 to install, then the guy knocked it down to $4,000 plus another $1600 plus tax to install.
I imagine it will cost us around $6000 to get the car running around again. We don't have much of a choice, we need that third vehicle. This week, she took Boy's Edge and that means I have to pick up and drop off Javalina every day to school. I already don't like this, I enjoy taking my time at work and not rushing home. Oh well, hopefully, we are back to normal in a week or so.
I wanted to do the same thing at Ford, at least get a number of how much a month it would cost, but the guy said they could not take the car if it wasn't retail-able. This makes sense to me, I almost wanted to try Carmax which did say they would take the car in any condition, but they would probably offer us $500 too.
So I told Wife that we should just fix the car and drive it for awhile. If she likes it and feels ok, then we keep it, maybe until the end of the year. I told her she should trade with Boy weekly so that she splits the load of running back and forth between the two cars. Hopefully, it can make her Kia last a little longer this time. We will surely be looking at the oil more frequently.
We haven't been playing games with the service shop, but in our indecision, they have come back twice with lower numbers to do the work on installing the new engine. The engine itself is used and the first quote was for $5,000. This would have come with a 12month/12 thousand mile warranty. I asked the service guy if he couldn't do any better, maybe even find a cheaper motor. He called a little later that the lady with the used motor was willing to let it go for $4,000, but no warranty of. This does not sound cool, but it is a lot cheaper. Originally, it was going to be $4,000 plus another $3,000 to install, then the guy knocked it down to $4,000 plus another $1600 plus tax to install.
I imagine it will cost us around $6000 to get the car running around again. We don't have much of a choice, we need that third vehicle. This week, she took Boy's Edge and that means I have to pick up and drop off Javalina every day to school. I already don't like this, I enjoy taking my time at work and not rushing home. Oh well, hopefully, we are back to normal in a week or so.
Tuesday, February 18, 2020
2/18/20 One Of The Best Stories Told To Me By My Friend At Work?
I am not sure if I wrote about this before, it was such a great ending to a story, I probably did, but anyways. I am telling or re-telling this in hopes she reads this while she is home recovering from a big surgery. I texted with her yesterday and she is back to eating solid foods after some complications mostly caused by her being in a car accident before her surgery. This story happened a good 5-6 years ago.
As I recall, it was somewhat of a family trip, with a few couples, she has a few sisters and they all got together to go on one of those 3-4 day cruises from Galveston to Cancun and stuff. She was concerned about her older sister who has trouble moving around, but with the help of the group, she managed to do ok. The problems came from her big strong guy who apparently can't say no to a good buffet. Maybe he was allergic to something amongst all the good eats, maybe he ate until he could no more, either way, her husband got sick and did not get better by resting a bit. He managed to get into his situation before they landed on the Mexico side, so they did all they could on board and then the medical staff decided it would be best if he went into treatment at the local Mexican hospital.
This is not what my friend wanted, as I recall, but a decision from the boat, they did not want to be responsible for a guest's death, I guess. He was taken to the hospital early in the morning and they attempted to treat him, he was just not responding to whatever treatments and then what seemed like a long day quickly shortened to a matter of hours. She was in communication with the boat, but the boat has a schedule to keep and they told her at a certain hour towards the evening it would have to set sail.
What do you do? At this point, she had contacted her doctors in San Antonio (they live in New Braunfels) for advice and there wasn't much they could do. At a certain point, she saw it was starting to get dark, she figured they had missed their boat, at least she talked to her sisters to collect her stuff from their room, but now they were stranded in a random Mexican hospital, the husband was still not improving and she was honestly scared sitting with him by themselves in a very primitive care facility thinking how are they going to get home now. You can't just jump on the next Carnival cruise boat.
At one point or another, his doctor made the decision that he needed to be brought back to the US, so just as it was getting dark and all hope was lost, the doors swoop open she said she never felt more in the hands of super heroes. These two larger than life guys in medic suits with two or three bags full of medicine and hope show up and it was like a bright light and new life was breathed on the room. They switched him over to one of their transport beds and asked her if she was coming. They had flown in on a private jet, and probably before her sisters were out of the harbor waters, she was up in the air and headed home to San Antonio.
Hubby made a full recovery, which had to do with him overeating (I can definitely relate), and I believe there was a crazy bill of $50-60,000 for the jet flight which was later forgiven or paid by private donors. She did pay some portion of it, but she didn't mind, thinking of how the two of them were swooped out of that situation in the best way possible.
As I recall, it was somewhat of a family trip, with a few couples, she has a few sisters and they all got together to go on one of those 3-4 day cruises from Galveston to Cancun and stuff. She was concerned about her older sister who has trouble moving around, but with the help of the group, she managed to do ok. The problems came from her big strong guy who apparently can't say no to a good buffet. Maybe he was allergic to something amongst all the good eats, maybe he ate until he could no more, either way, her husband got sick and did not get better by resting a bit. He managed to get into his situation before they landed on the Mexico side, so they did all they could on board and then the medical staff decided it would be best if he went into treatment at the local Mexican hospital.
This is not what my friend wanted, as I recall, but a decision from the boat, they did not want to be responsible for a guest's death, I guess. He was taken to the hospital early in the morning and they attempted to treat him, he was just not responding to whatever treatments and then what seemed like a long day quickly shortened to a matter of hours. She was in communication with the boat, but the boat has a schedule to keep and they told her at a certain hour towards the evening it would have to set sail.
What do you do? At this point, she had contacted her doctors in San Antonio (they live in New Braunfels) for advice and there wasn't much they could do. At a certain point, she saw it was starting to get dark, she figured they had missed their boat, at least she talked to her sisters to collect her stuff from their room, but now they were stranded in a random Mexican hospital, the husband was still not improving and she was honestly scared sitting with him by themselves in a very primitive care facility thinking how are they going to get home now. You can't just jump on the next Carnival cruise boat.
At one point or another, his doctor made the decision that he needed to be brought back to the US, so just as it was getting dark and all hope was lost, the doors swoop open she said she never felt more in the hands of super heroes. These two larger than life guys in medic suits with two or three bags full of medicine and hope show up and it was like a bright light and new life was breathed on the room. They switched him over to one of their transport beds and asked her if she was coming. They had flown in on a private jet, and probably before her sisters were out of the harbor waters, she was up in the air and headed home to San Antonio.
Hubby made a full recovery, which had to do with him overeating (I can definitely relate), and I believe there was a crazy bill of $50-60,000 for the jet flight which was later forgiven or paid by private donors. She did pay some portion of it, but she didn't mind, thinking of how the two of them were swooped out of that situation in the best way possible.
Monday, February 17, 2020
2/17/20 Finally A Reason To Play Dress-Up?
I will admit I have allowed myself to be a bit of a slob, running around 90% of the time in shorts, like I was a middle schooler. By joining the orchestra, I assured myself I would have to dress up at least once a month for the performance. Yesterday, I was told that for the performance I would need to go all black. It could be a Polo shirt with black jeans, but all black is the preferred look. He then followed that for their spring gala they do go fancy and wear black slacks and button-down long sleeve shirts.
Since Wife has Monday off, she suggested after rehearsal, to go to the Casual Male at the Outlet Mall. This is where my music career woke up, so why not come back to it. It is really nice to have a store focused on us big boys. I was able to try on a couple of different slacks and chose one that was comfortable. I even found a couple jeans I could wear regularly. While I was at it, I also got a long sleeved black shirt, a new black belt, shoes, and three different ties that add a little color to the basic black I am wearing.
If I ever start caring about dressing up, I will definitely start coming here more often. They have clothing for everything, from casual relaxed T-shirts with Star Wars logos, to jeans and slacks and even fancy warm-ups for wearing out of the house, to actual basketball shorts, if my knees ever heal. They have a decent selection of shoes, and I was surprised the first pair slid on and felt comfortable, even with the thick socks I like to wear.
The way the orchestra works is that they perform only 4-5 times a year. They only get together the three weekends before each performance. This will line up with leaving us alone come March. Spring break will be a little messy with Wife having hers a week after we have ours. The best way to handle this is to just go with her for a couple days and hang out in Crystal City and then she said she would take maybe Thursday and Friday off and then we can go do something. The good thing is I won't have to be worried about learning new music until April.
EIther way, I now have the bulk of my ensemble to wear for these events. If I want to add a better shirt, I can, or more comfortable pants, I can. but I have something that will work and I won't be stressing about what to wear going into next weekend. The clothes did cost me a good amount at $290, but really, I never buy clothes because I don't ever get in front of people. I have mostly lived in the shadows and worked at night alone. I am a little excited to be a part of something, right now.
Since Wife has Monday off, she suggested after rehearsal, to go to the Casual Male at the Outlet Mall. This is where my music career woke up, so why not come back to it. It is really nice to have a store focused on us big boys. I was able to try on a couple of different slacks and chose one that was comfortable. I even found a couple jeans I could wear regularly. While I was at it, I also got a long sleeved black shirt, a new black belt, shoes, and three different ties that add a little color to the basic black I am wearing.
If I ever start caring about dressing up, I will definitely start coming here more often. They have clothing for everything, from casual relaxed T-shirts with Star Wars logos, to jeans and slacks and even fancy warm-ups for wearing out of the house, to actual basketball shorts, if my knees ever heal. They have a decent selection of shoes, and I was surprised the first pair slid on and felt comfortable, even with the thick socks I like to wear.
The way the orchestra works is that they perform only 4-5 times a year. They only get together the three weekends before each performance. This will line up with leaving us alone come March. Spring break will be a little messy with Wife having hers a week after we have ours. The best way to handle this is to just go with her for a couple days and hang out in Crystal City and then she said she would take maybe Thursday and Friday off and then we can go do something. The good thing is I won't have to be worried about learning new music until April.
EIther way, I now have the bulk of my ensemble to wear for these events. If I want to add a better shirt, I can, or more comfortable pants, I can. but I have something that will work and I won't be stressing about what to wear going into next weekend. The clothes did cost me a good amount at $290, but really, I never buy clothes because I don't ever get in front of people. I have mostly lived in the shadows and worked at night alone. I am a little excited to be a part of something, right now.
2/16/20 Third Rehearsal?
I was kind of dreading going back a third time for practice knowing there is one song I was having trouble with. I couldn't really find the time to focus and dedicate to practicing most of the week since we have been messing around with the situation of Wife's car. Sunday morning, I even got up at 6:00am and said to myself, ok first we'll write enough blogs to get ahead and then I'll practice for an hour or so.
All I managed was falling asleep in front of the computer and then just giving up after eating all the loose snacks and going back to bed at 10:00am. I figured I would nap and then come back and maybe just do 30 minutes of practice before going. That is pretty much how it worked out. Once I worked out some runs I realized they just repeated throughout most of the music, so once I got it, it all came together pretty easily. After a few attempts, I was playing the hard runs without looking at the sheet of music, so that helped me relax a bit. I don't know how time flew by, but I tell Wife that it is time to go at 1:15pm, next thing I know it is 1:40 and we are barely leaving the house, and practice is at 2:00pm in San Marcos, thirty minutes away. Of course, when we are running late is when the light for low fuel comes on and because my knee is still hurting Wife insists she will put the gas in. I am fine with that but she is trying to fill it all the way and that can take minutes. I know I am already late, but I don't want to be late late. She is busily cleaning the back seats of all the water bottes and Gatorades Javalina has accumulated and I am just in the passenger seat losing my shit.
I got there maybe 15 minutes late, but that seemed ok. I was surprised to find a guy with a bari sax sitting there and after looking at him, I realized this was a baby. He mentioned to someone else that he was a sophomore and he looked it. There were quite a few new faces, I guess they recruited from the high school. I thought it funny that I went fifteen years before this kid was born and then his whole life where I didn't play a sax and now here we were playing side by side, weird.
I feel the rehearsals have gone really well for me. Some of the people keep getting picked on to play their parts over and over to clear it up with the conductor, he has yet to point me out in one of those situations. He came over to talk to the president of the club, the guy that recruited me, and we talked for a bit, he said he liked having me in there, I had a strong sound and seemed to know what I was doing. The president, who plays clarinet, said "yeah, it is awesome sitting here next to you, it sounds very solid."
We have 7 songs and I still have a few rough spots here and there. This week I really do have to spend time practicing at home, next week is the big concert, and Wife said her family is coming. My folks said maybe, so I could be filling a few pews just by me showing up to perform. Speaking of, towards the end, we were asked if we are interested in some sort of small group performance, to sign up. I went and talked to the lady in charge and she said if I was interested in playing some solos, with piano accompaniment, or even a small group, they could see about setting it up. I told her back in high school I always got solos and I was a very confident player, maybe I am not ready to play by myself, but if a small group forms and I would fit in with the sax, then put my name down. She mentioned something about the stand up bass guitar always trying to get a jazz group going. That would be the best.
All I managed was falling asleep in front of the computer and then just giving up after eating all the loose snacks and going back to bed at 10:00am. I figured I would nap and then come back and maybe just do 30 minutes of practice before going. That is pretty much how it worked out. Once I worked out some runs I realized they just repeated throughout most of the music, so once I got it, it all came together pretty easily. After a few attempts, I was playing the hard runs without looking at the sheet of music, so that helped me relax a bit. I don't know how time flew by, but I tell Wife that it is time to go at 1:15pm, next thing I know it is 1:40 and we are barely leaving the house, and practice is at 2:00pm in San Marcos, thirty minutes away. Of course, when we are running late is when the light for low fuel comes on and because my knee is still hurting Wife insists she will put the gas in. I am fine with that but she is trying to fill it all the way and that can take minutes. I know I am already late, but I don't want to be late late. She is busily cleaning the back seats of all the water bottes and Gatorades Javalina has accumulated and I am just in the passenger seat losing my shit.
I got there maybe 15 minutes late, but that seemed ok. I was surprised to find a guy with a bari sax sitting there and after looking at him, I realized this was a baby. He mentioned to someone else that he was a sophomore and he looked it. There were quite a few new faces, I guess they recruited from the high school. I thought it funny that I went fifteen years before this kid was born and then his whole life where I didn't play a sax and now here we were playing side by side, weird.
I feel the rehearsals have gone really well for me. Some of the people keep getting picked on to play their parts over and over to clear it up with the conductor, he has yet to point me out in one of those situations. He came over to talk to the president of the club, the guy that recruited me, and we talked for a bit, he said he liked having me in there, I had a strong sound and seemed to know what I was doing. The president, who plays clarinet, said "yeah, it is awesome sitting here next to you, it sounds very solid."
We have 7 songs and I still have a few rough spots here and there. This week I really do have to spend time practicing at home, next week is the big concert, and Wife said her family is coming. My folks said maybe, so I could be filling a few pews just by me showing up to perform. Speaking of, towards the end, we were asked if we are interested in some sort of small group performance, to sign up. I went and talked to the lady in charge and she said if I was interested in playing some solos, with piano accompaniment, or even a small group, they could see about setting it up. I told her back in high school I always got solos and I was a very confident player, maybe I am not ready to play by myself, but if a small group forms and I would fit in with the sax, then put my name down. She mentioned something about the stand up bass guitar always trying to get a jazz group going. That would be the best.
Sunday, February 16, 2020
2/15/20 Looking At Some Cars?
After Wife's troubles with her Kia, it is hard to imagine we will be buying another Kia. That being said, I didn't want to just say that I would force Wife into whatever car I thought would be best. We had a conversation, I wanted her to realize all the cars that are out there in the price range we will look at. First off, she had her heart set on another Kia, the brand new Telluride. It has been doing very well and honestly on a comparison test with the Ford Explorer, it came in 1st while the Explorer came in a sad 4th out of five. Still, in the real world, we have to keep perspective.
Would you go and buy another car from the same company whose car just burned up its engine with no rhyme or reason? I say it is very uncool to just tell us that and give us a blank stare as to what we are going to do about it. If we did nothing wrong, we changed the oil when we were supposed to, then the engine decides to burn up all the oil, how are we to know. There are no stains on the driveway indicating it has been leaking. I told Wife the only way I could go along with another Kia is if they somehow help us get out of our predicament.
I then suggested we look at some Prius cars over at Toyota. We stopped at the dealership and the salesman said they have not had any new Prius cars in a long time. The did have some Rav4 Hybrids which claimed 38 miles on the highway and 41 in the city. That sounded great, but the Telluride and Explorer both have a third row and seat at least 6 people. The Rav4 does not have that power. I really stopped at Toyota to see the Prius lineup, not to be pushed into something else.
My first choice always is to go with Ford. Ford has not really disappointed me. My folks and them have had problems with their windows falling off the support brackets and the power controller giving out to raise the windows, but I have had no issues like that. In order to save money, I am focusing my looking at 2019 vehicles. They are more heavily discounted and willing to deal to move them. That said, I really like an Edge that they have had for quite a while at $40,190. It is an ST and so it is supposed to haul ass, plus it is loaded with all the features we are used to. While waiting for the sales guy to get the key, we saw a 2020 Ford Explorer. It was not the fancy ST variety, but it did have leather on the seats and a big screen to run the radio/nav and all that stuff. The red color really pops and to me this is the frontrunner on what we will get. We just need to figure out how to get rid of the Kia.
Wife was looking at Carmax and they will buy anything, no questions asked. We talked about it and figured if they would offer us around $10,000, we would probably take it. We still owe $13,150 or something like that. I am unsure what will happen here, but I know that we need a solution by the weekend as soon as we get past the refinance that is supposed to happen this week.
Would you go and buy another car from the same company whose car just burned up its engine with no rhyme or reason? I say it is very uncool to just tell us that and give us a blank stare as to what we are going to do about it. If we did nothing wrong, we changed the oil when we were supposed to, then the engine decides to burn up all the oil, how are we to know. There are no stains on the driveway indicating it has been leaking. I told Wife the only way I could go along with another Kia is if they somehow help us get out of our predicament.
I then suggested we look at some Prius cars over at Toyota. We stopped at the dealership and the salesman said they have not had any new Prius cars in a long time. The did have some Rav4 Hybrids which claimed 38 miles on the highway and 41 in the city. That sounded great, but the Telluride and Explorer both have a third row and seat at least 6 people. The Rav4 does not have that power. I really stopped at Toyota to see the Prius lineup, not to be pushed into something else.
My first choice always is to go with Ford. Ford has not really disappointed me. My folks and them have had problems with their windows falling off the support brackets and the power controller giving out to raise the windows, but I have had no issues like that. In order to save money, I am focusing my looking at 2019 vehicles. They are more heavily discounted and willing to deal to move them. That said, I really like an Edge that they have had for quite a while at $40,190. It is an ST and so it is supposed to haul ass, plus it is loaded with all the features we are used to. While waiting for the sales guy to get the key, we saw a 2020 Ford Explorer. It was not the fancy ST variety, but it did have leather on the seats and a big screen to run the radio/nav and all that stuff. The red color really pops and to me this is the frontrunner on what we will get. We just need to figure out how to get rid of the Kia.
Wife was looking at Carmax and they will buy anything, no questions asked. We talked about it and figured if they would offer us around $10,000, we would probably take it. We still owe $13,150 or something like that. I am unsure what will happen here, but I know that we need a solution by the weekend as soon as we get past the refinance that is supposed to happen this week.
2/14/20 Keeping It Real On Valentine's Day?
I can full on say this Valentine's Day sucked. I guess I am mostly responsible but only because of my responsibilities. Wife's car had its service engine light come on a week ago and that has been a high mark on our family stress level. We took it in immediately and after a couple days they called back saying the engine was run without oil. I could not believe this part because I take our cars into Jiffy Lube and I saw them pour the oil in, nowadays they don't pump it in with a hose like they used to, they use a small container and fill it with the correct amount per whatever the computer tells them. Anyways, Kia told us the car was fine, we had brought it in before we did any major damage, they wanted to run a test to see how much oil the engine was burning, but we picked up the car and the service engine light came on within two blocks of the dealership.
So here we are, now its Friday, am I going to be worried about chocolate hearts and marshmallow surprises, or am I going to go deal with the situation about our car? The only good thing about Boy being furloughed and then having his wisdom teeth removed is that he has nowhere to go, so Wife can take his car to go to work. I got out close to 10:00am and went over to the place where I was going to buy the used Mustang. It was sold to somebody else, but they had my $100 bill. They said they will be mailing it to the house. I then went to Kia to talk to the service person about the engine and the car. I wanted to perhaps get a price and valuation on trading the car in and getting a new Telluride, but the sales guy he addressed me to was not very helpful.
I left there with not many answers but more questions around 11:30am, and I decided I might as well stop and get some breakfast tacos for me and Javalina. I finally laid down around 1:00pm, Wife then called me at 3:30pm that she was on her way. At this point, I got up and called the dealership to see if they had maybe found a cheaper engine, he said no, but the lady with the engine for sale, said she would take 4 thousand. In my naïve train of thought, I had assumed because the service guy said he would help us out with the service part, that the install would somehow be free. He of course then quoted me a price of $6950 for the motor and install, with no guarantee. I could choose to pay an extra $1000 for the twelve thousand mile warranty.
All this of course, still has to wait on the fact that I am almost done refinancing the house, and the number 1 rule of refinancing is don't buy anything while going through the process. So, Wife is ready to just bite the bullet and I am told they need a couple more days to close. They are finally saying that we can be signing paperwork this week.
I can only say I will believe it when I actually start signing papers. But again, with all this, I never had the fortitude to worry about some chocolate candies.
So here we are, now its Friday, am I going to be worried about chocolate hearts and marshmallow surprises, or am I going to go deal with the situation about our car? The only good thing about Boy being furloughed and then having his wisdom teeth removed is that he has nowhere to go, so Wife can take his car to go to work. I got out close to 10:00am and went over to the place where I was going to buy the used Mustang. It was sold to somebody else, but they had my $100 bill. They said they will be mailing it to the house. I then went to Kia to talk to the service person about the engine and the car. I wanted to perhaps get a price and valuation on trading the car in and getting a new Telluride, but the sales guy he addressed me to was not very helpful.
I left there with not many answers but more questions around 11:30am, and I decided I might as well stop and get some breakfast tacos for me and Javalina. I finally laid down around 1:00pm, Wife then called me at 3:30pm that she was on her way. At this point, I got up and called the dealership to see if they had maybe found a cheaper engine, he said no, but the lady with the engine for sale, said she would take 4 thousand. In my naïve train of thought, I had assumed because the service guy said he would help us out with the service part, that the install would somehow be free. He of course then quoted me a price of $6950 for the motor and install, with no guarantee. I could choose to pay an extra $1000 for the twelve thousand mile warranty.
All this of course, still has to wait on the fact that I am almost done refinancing the house, and the number 1 rule of refinancing is don't buy anything while going through the process. So, Wife is ready to just bite the bullet and I am told they need a couple more days to close. They are finally saying that we can be signing paperwork this week.
I can only say I will believe it when I actually start signing papers. But again, with all this, I never had the fortitude to worry about some chocolate candies.
Thursday, February 13, 2020
2/13/20 Second Band Practice?
As they say, better late than never. I was so busy this weekend that I managed to get to my rehearsal about 15 minutes late. I was very tempted to just tell Wife that I wasn't going. I felt really bad because I never practiced, and one of the songs is especially hard with five flats in the key. I am barely remembering what letter I am supposed to be playing, and then to think whether the notes are regular or flat is quite a challenge.
Before practice I had taken Wife to the airport to pick up her rental. I then hurried back thinking whether there was going to be time for breakfast, there wasn't, and my parents had left. I only had an hour to shower and get to San Marcos, that was going to be tough. Still, I am not going to sit amongst new people and risk smelling like a-hole or worse, so off to the shower I went. By the time I got dressed, Wife was back home and she offered to go with me, even though she had a conference in Marble Falls and wanted to leave and get there before it got dark. She got a really nice car, it was an upgrade from the economy shitbox she tried to rent. They gave her a Ford Fusion Titanium, which means fully loaded. It was a pretty dark red on the outside and I would say a darkish reddish leather inside with a sunroof and a bunch of nice options. The hardest part for me was getting in the car with me having to fold my neck over to fit my fat head in.
We got to the rehearsal place about 15 minutes late and by the time I walked in, they were broken into sections, such as brass in one room, woodwinds in another and so forth. I don't know if I should say luck or not, but I barely got the tail end of rehearsing on that one piece of music with the 5 flats. We were only broken into sectionals a few more minutes before we joined the rest of the group as a full orchestra.
They keep oohing and awing about how great it is to perform with a singing vocalist, but I don't like the spotlight to be taken from us for a single person with no instrument, but what are you gonna do? Most of the songs have vocal accompaniment. We went through two more songs that
honestly I hadn't even looked at. Luckily, they were quite easy and I was able to play most of them from start to finish on the first pass. I was giddy inside because I kind of kick ass when I am not being confused with a ton of flats or sharps. The two "hard" songs have either five flats or five sharps. These last two songs had just F#, which is quite normal and the other added C#, which again is very manageable.
Time just flew by, before I knew it, it was past 4:30pm and they try to stick to the times pretty good, so the conductor just apologized and said "excuse me, it is 4:30, sorry guys, but we are done." I told Jeremy, the guy that recruited me, that I felt highly embarrassed that I wasn't better prepared, he was all "no worries, man, you sound great." I told him but I am a perfectionist, I feel shitty I don't know the music completely yet, I almost didn't come. He said (like a mafia boss, but smiling), "don't do that, we are counting on you now, you are important to the whole program. If you try to escape, we will hound you and harass you on the phone." I guess it is nice to feel like I am needed and I belong, but I really need to practice some this week, I am better than that.
Before practice I had taken Wife to the airport to pick up her rental. I then hurried back thinking whether there was going to be time for breakfast, there wasn't, and my parents had left. I only had an hour to shower and get to San Marcos, that was going to be tough. Still, I am not going to sit amongst new people and risk smelling like a-hole or worse, so off to the shower I went. By the time I got dressed, Wife was back home and she offered to go with me, even though she had a conference in Marble Falls and wanted to leave and get there before it got dark. She got a really nice car, it was an upgrade from the economy shitbox she tried to rent. They gave her a Ford Fusion Titanium, which means fully loaded. It was a pretty dark red on the outside and I would say a darkish reddish leather inside with a sunroof and a bunch of nice options. The hardest part for me was getting in the car with me having to fold my neck over to fit my fat head in.
We got to the rehearsal place about 15 minutes late and by the time I walked in, they were broken into sections, such as brass in one room, woodwinds in another and so forth. I don't know if I should say luck or not, but I barely got the tail end of rehearsing on that one piece of music with the 5 flats. We were only broken into sectionals a few more minutes before we joined the rest of the group as a full orchestra.
They keep oohing and awing about how great it is to perform with a singing vocalist, but I don't like the spotlight to be taken from us for a single person with no instrument, but what are you gonna do? Most of the songs have vocal accompaniment. We went through two more songs that
honestly I hadn't even looked at. Luckily, they were quite easy and I was able to play most of them from start to finish on the first pass. I was giddy inside because I kind of kick ass when I am not being confused with a ton of flats or sharps. The two "hard" songs have either five flats or five sharps. These last two songs had just F#, which is quite normal and the other added C#, which again is very manageable.
Time just flew by, before I knew it, it was past 4:30pm and they try to stick to the times pretty good, so the conductor just apologized and said "excuse me, it is 4:30, sorry guys, but we are done." I told Jeremy, the guy that recruited me, that I felt highly embarrassed that I wasn't better prepared, he was all "no worries, man, you sound great." I told him but I am a perfectionist, I feel shitty I don't know the music completely yet, I almost didn't come. He said (like a mafia boss, but smiling), "don't do that, we are counting on you now, you are important to the whole program. If you try to escape, we will hound you and harass you on the phone." I guess it is nice to feel like I am needed and I belong, but I really need to practice some this week, I am better than that.
Wednesday, February 12, 2020
2/12/20 Leading Up To Second Band Practice?
I almost did not go to the second band practice. From last week, when I went to my first rehearsal and left feeling like a new and improved person. I slowly went down to the ground in the course of a week. My plans all week were to practice on Friday and Saturday, maybe some more on Sunday morning if I needed to, before I went back to practice at 2:00am.
I could have put some time in on Thursday, I was technically off, but man, after working, I need a day off just to gather myself back together. Friday early was not really good because I had plans with Boy and though I wasn't sure what time we were going to go, he came down all of a sudden, ready to go around 10:30am. I had been sitting writing blogs and watching videos on the computer, but when he came down I quickly ran up and took a shower. It had been a long time since I had spent any time with Boy, so I wasn't going to rush it. It turned out great, we were out until around 2:30pm, maybe 4 hours, and we even had lunch at Thundercloud Subs. As soon as I got home I was ready for a nap.
I woke up at 4:30, when Wife started texting that she was on her way back up here. I said cool, she had a couple things she wanted me to do, like clean this and that. Javalina was supposed to stay on campus for a concert and then a play, but he decided to come home to rest for a while. I told him if he wanted a ride back he would need to cut the grass in the front, so it would look nice for my parents. As soon as we finished, it was time to take him back, so off we went.
Wife got back and within the hour my folks got in, and worse yet, by that time it was about the time the play was going to finish. We headed to go get Javalina and he had five friends to feed. Lucky that the Excursion is so big and lil Beaners will pile in, I put two in the very back and off we went. We got back home probably around 11:00pm, and there had been no time to practice, but I thought well maybe Saturday.
Saturday turned into more of the same. I was up super early writing, but then my Mom woke and she had plans to go drop off her SUV and pick up a rental. I went with her since my Dad didn't look like he was moving. It took awhile and then of course, we got back and Wife was having her problems with her SUV, which meant we had to take her SUV in.
We then went to eat at Mandola's, we came home for a bit so I could poop and shower, then we headed to the mall. We didn't get back home until after 10:00pm. I thought maybe if I take a nap, I will be refreshed and then I can practice. That did not happen, but I thought maybe n Sunday morning.
Again, Sunday proved to be too busy. Wife needed to go get a rental car at the airport, s we rushed off in the direction around 11:40am and with traffic being so shitty, I didn't get back until1:00pm. I barely had time to shower and get on the road. I was thinking I shouldn't go, but Wife said "just go", it won't be that bad. I hated not being fully prepared, but the guy who get me in said I sounded really good and not to worry about being so perfect, this is just a local city orchestra.
I could have put some time in on Thursday, I was technically off, but man, after working, I need a day off just to gather myself back together. Friday early was not really good because I had plans with Boy and though I wasn't sure what time we were going to go, he came down all of a sudden, ready to go around 10:30am. I had been sitting writing blogs and watching videos on the computer, but when he came down I quickly ran up and took a shower. It had been a long time since I had spent any time with Boy, so I wasn't going to rush it. It turned out great, we were out until around 2:30pm, maybe 4 hours, and we even had lunch at Thundercloud Subs. As soon as I got home I was ready for a nap.
I woke up at 4:30, when Wife started texting that she was on her way back up here. I said cool, she had a couple things she wanted me to do, like clean this and that. Javalina was supposed to stay on campus for a concert and then a play, but he decided to come home to rest for a while. I told him if he wanted a ride back he would need to cut the grass in the front, so it would look nice for my parents. As soon as we finished, it was time to take him back, so off we went.
Wife got back and within the hour my folks got in, and worse yet, by that time it was about the time the play was going to finish. We headed to go get Javalina and he had five friends to feed. Lucky that the Excursion is so big and lil Beaners will pile in, I put two in the very back and off we went. We got back home probably around 11:00pm, and there had been no time to practice, but I thought well maybe Saturday.
Saturday turned into more of the same. I was up super early writing, but then my Mom woke and she had plans to go drop off her SUV and pick up a rental. I went with her since my Dad didn't look like he was moving. It took awhile and then of course, we got back and Wife was having her problems with her SUV, which meant we had to take her SUV in.
We then went to eat at Mandola's, we came home for a bit so I could poop and shower, then we headed to the mall. We didn't get back home until after 10:00pm. I thought maybe if I take a nap, I will be refreshed and then I can practice. That did not happen, but I thought maybe n Sunday morning.
Again, Sunday proved to be too busy. Wife needed to go get a rental car at the airport, s we rushed off in the direction around 11:40am and with traffic being so shitty, I didn't get back until1:00pm. I barely had time to shower and get on the road. I was thinking I shouldn't go, but Wife said "just go", it won't be that bad. I hated not being fully prepared, but the guy who get me in said I sounded really good and not to worry about being so perfect, this is just a local city orchestra.
Tuesday, February 11, 2020
2/11/20 Getting A New Nice Watch?
Part of saying that Wife kicks ass and is the coolest is that she recognizes my needs. I have many wants and needs, unlike her. I am as materialistic as people come and I don't really hide it or feel ashamed for it. I feel I work hard, take care of my boys, help others when I can, so why not treat myself once in a while?
Really, the only thing I have been wanting is watches. I mean, yes, I want a truck and a boat, and maybe even a plane, but those are needs. A man should be able to travel by land, sea, or air at a moments notice. I kid about the plane part, for now, the other two are just a matter of time. They will be mine, oh yes, just wait. But back to the here and now, shopping for watches is something that occupies my time. I like looking at them, comparing them, hearing this and that on YouTube about what celebrity has what kind of watches, I think it is a cool hobby. It even has a new word "horophile", which is defined as people with an obsession with timekeeping devices. The word is so new it is still not recognized by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, but other online dictionaries do.
Friday afternoon while at the mall buying clothes for Boy, he suggested going to Ben Bridge, he has a liking for nice things too. I don't think he was aware that they no longer are carrying Rolex, but if he wants to go somewhere I already enjoy going to, why would I say no? We usually deal with a particular sales lady, but she wasn't there. We were helped by the same lady as the last time I went by to pick up Boy's watches, they both needed batteries.
I have really started liking the way alligator leather straps look with watches and for some reason, I think the dark royal blue really pops in that color. I mean brown looks great, with a rose gold watch, and black looks perfect with a yellow gold watch, but if the watch itself is going to be white gold or silver or even steel, I think blue is the best color. Without Rolex to distract our attention, I looked at their "lesser" watches and noticed a really nice looking Raymond Weil with both a blue faced dial and a cream/tan dial. I liked the lighter cream/tan one and Boy liked the blue one. I almost bought it on the spot, but had a moment of clarity and said no to myself. I felt like I should at least discuss it with Wife, Boy being evil said "she was ok with you buying a Hamilton watch( at about the same price point), she won't mind this." I just smiled and said "no, I want to discuss it first."
After talking it over with her, she was surprised I didn't just get it. With my Mom being in town for the weekend, we ended up back at the mall on Saturday afternoon again, so we went back and after trying on several others and almost spending too much on a Tag Heuer watch, I did end up getting the cream/tan faced watch that I liked. Boy came around agreed it was nicer. I just wanted the different color, if I ever wear it because I have a blue faced and a black faced Rolex. That might be the only thing a novice might notice, so I do want them to be different colors.
Really, the only thing I have been wanting is watches. I mean, yes, I want a truck and a boat, and maybe even a plane, but those are needs. A man should be able to travel by land, sea, or air at a moments notice. I kid about the plane part, for now, the other two are just a matter of time. They will be mine, oh yes, just wait. But back to the here and now, shopping for watches is something that occupies my time. I like looking at them, comparing them, hearing this and that on YouTube about what celebrity has what kind of watches, I think it is a cool hobby. It even has a new word "horophile", which is defined as people with an obsession with timekeeping devices. The word is so new it is still not recognized by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, but other online dictionaries do.
Friday afternoon while at the mall buying clothes for Boy, he suggested going to Ben Bridge, he has a liking for nice things too. I don't think he was aware that they no longer are carrying Rolex, but if he wants to go somewhere I already enjoy going to, why would I say no? We usually deal with a particular sales lady, but she wasn't there. We were helped by the same lady as the last time I went by to pick up Boy's watches, they both needed batteries.
I have really started liking the way alligator leather straps look with watches and for some reason, I think the dark royal blue really pops in that color. I mean brown looks great, with a rose gold watch, and black looks perfect with a yellow gold watch, but if the watch itself is going to be white gold or silver or even steel, I think blue is the best color. Without Rolex to distract our attention, I looked at their "lesser" watches and noticed a really nice looking Raymond Weil with both a blue faced dial and a cream/tan dial. I liked the lighter cream/tan one and Boy liked the blue one. I almost bought it on the spot, but had a moment of clarity and said no to myself. I felt like I should at least discuss it with Wife, Boy being evil said "she was ok with you buying a Hamilton watch( at about the same price point), she won't mind this." I just smiled and said "no, I want to discuss it first."
After talking it over with her, she was surprised I didn't just get it. With my Mom being in town for the weekend, we ended up back at the mall on Saturday afternoon again, so we went back and after trying on several others and almost spending too much on a Tag Heuer watch, I did end up getting the cream/tan faced watch that I liked. Boy came around agreed it was nicer. I just wanted the different color, if I ever wear it because I have a blue faced and a black faced Rolex. That might be the only thing a novice might notice, so I do want them to be different colors.
Monday, February 10, 2020
2/10/20 Happy Birthday, Big Bossy B?
Today Wife turns 29, that has been her age for awhile, so leave it alone. It sucks having a birthday during the week, because well for us, we aren't even together, but even when we were, I work nights. Wife is ok to wait until Friday or Saturday to go celebrate her birthday. Friday also happens to be Valentine's Day, so I get to kill two birds with one stone. With my new found knowledge, I don't even have to go spending a bunch of money, our Love Language tells me all I have to do is maybe sweep the kitchen and run the vacuum and Wife will be all aglow in my love for her.
From what I understand, she is going to be around here for a conference up around the lakes somewhere. With her car troubles, she even suggested I could go drop her off and then pick her up, but I am not up to that challenge. I could probably go drop her off tonight, after my band practice, but then to go get her during the week would be a major pain in the ass with how traffic builds up here. She already reserved a rental car at the airport, and it is going to cost us a nice $220 for like 4 days of rental. Still, this is the first time we have any type of trouble with that little butt plug of a car so I don't mind.
I am almost tempted to go do that voodoo that I do and trade her car while it is in the shop for a Kia Telluride and surprise her, but then again, the Kia Soul has been such a good little car I don't want to just give it away. We have gotten several notices from them that we could trade in the Soul and walk out with a Telluride for about $100-$200 difference. That just sounds tempting.
It is very hard when you are married to a person like Wife. Gifts don't really impress her, we were at the mall and I actually bought a nice watch and she could have cared less about looking around for her while we were there. Even at Dillard's, I love the look of the Brahmin bags with their thick leather feel, or even the Coach or Dunney bags, but she will walk all the way to the back of the purse/bag section and pick out these cloth cheap looking $50 Vera Bradley bags.
Right now, she has been busily collecting some bags from Coach that have The Wizard of Oz characters printed on them. I don't know if she has all of them at this point, but I am also not stopping her from getting all of them. I don't understand the point of her collecting things like that. She'll buy them and not even think about using them, so no one will ever get to see whatever cool thing she collected. Oh well, that is part of the mystery that is my wife.
It is hard to believe that we have been together since she was a kid, younger than our youngest. We started dating when she was 14 and I was 16, now that she is 29, it has been a long road. Somehow in the math, we dated for 6 years, and produced a pair of handsome young men 25 and 15 years old. She is still working her ass off to make herself a better person going to school, yet when I am sick or feeling bad, she drops everything and makes sure I am well cared for. You are the Queen Woman, your mama knew it before you were born and put the title in your name. I consider myself lucky to have you as my Wife and partner. I love you and Happy Birthday.
It is hard to believe that we have been together since she was a kid, younger than our youngest. We started dating when she was 14 and I was 16, now that she is 29, it has been a long road. Somehow in the math, we dated for 6 years, and produced a pair of handsome young men 25 and 15 years old. She is still working her ass off to make herself a better person going to school, yet when I am sick or feeling bad, she drops everything and makes sure I am well cared for. You are the Queen Woman, your mama knew it before you were born and put the title in your name. I consider myself lucky to have you as my Wife and partner. I love you and Happy Birthday.
Sunday, February 9, 2020
2/9/20 Car Trouble For You, Car Trouble For Me?
Part of the reason my folks came to visit was to bring in their new SUV back to the Chevrolet dealership. From day one, it has had an error message that comes on in the driver's screen, something about needing to charge the system. Mom called the saleslady and she said to bring it in, she talked to a service guy and he said it might be a failing alternator. I think an alternator will either fail or not, the problem wouldn't last for 3 months like this one has.
I can say I was not impressed by the service shop at Henna Chevrolet. The sales lady told my Mom "I talked to Brad, look for him when you come in, I will have a loaner car for you to take home while we figure out the problem." Fast forward to meeting ole Brad and Brad could not give two shits that we knew his name when he came up to our car randomly. After my mom explained what the problem was he said "ok." He didn't say "welcome to our dealership", or "get off and we'll start the paperwork", or "sorry for your problems." Ole Brad just turned and walked into the building. We sat there like goons for a couple minutes then I suggested to my mom "maybe we should go inside." We walked in and I swear it was like Brad was Drew Barrymore in 50 First Dates, he looked at us like "yeah, can I help you?" (not that I want to was his demeanor). After a few minutes we were handed off to another guy who at least faked some friendliness our way. We told him the sales lady said we would get a rental and be on our way. He of course does the ole "I don't know, we only have a few rentals, maybe we can put together some old tires on a piece of wood and roll you on out of here (but he was friendlier at least).
We sat there about an hour and a half before the lady from the rental part of the service came and addressed us. She could get my Mom a rental truck or a tiny SUV but nothing like what she came in with. I joked with her to just give us a new suburban and we'll be on our way, or maybe a new Corvette, at least she LOL'd. She came back saying she did have 1 Traverse or whatever my mom drives, but they would have to move a bunch of cars to get it, it was currently blocked off. Another 30-40 minutes and we were on our way.
I got home and wanted to go eat breakfast, Wife seemed surprised that that would require waking up Javalina. He must have heard us making noise and comes down all half awake. Wife had run to the bank while we were gone, I had talked to her to pick up some tacos at Taco Cabana, but she said they might not have the big dozen tacos for $20 deal going. This is the point she headed home and got her very own "service engine soon". Now we would have to take her Kia in and see. So before we even ate, we had lost two cars to maintenance issues. Wife took off ahead of us and we followed to pick her up. Kia does not have a rental agency onsite, so tough titties to their customers.
They've been wanting to sell us a new Telluride, Wife has been wanting a new Telluride and I figure it is only an extra hundred bucks, maybe two and we could do it, but it would have meant sitting there haggling and losing another 3-4 hours. We ended up leaving, so we could eat, Dad was getting uppity and Javalina was way past his breakfast, so we had two biotches whining in the car.
I can say I was not impressed by the service shop at Henna Chevrolet. The sales lady told my Mom "I talked to Brad, look for him when you come in, I will have a loaner car for you to take home while we figure out the problem." Fast forward to meeting ole Brad and Brad could not give two shits that we knew his name when he came up to our car randomly. After my mom explained what the problem was he said "ok." He didn't say "welcome to our dealership", or "get off and we'll start the paperwork", or "sorry for your problems." Ole Brad just turned and walked into the building. We sat there like goons for a couple minutes then I suggested to my mom "maybe we should go inside." We walked in and I swear it was like Brad was Drew Barrymore in 50 First Dates, he looked at us like "yeah, can I help you?" (not that I want to was his demeanor). After a few minutes we were handed off to another guy who at least faked some friendliness our way. We told him the sales lady said we would get a rental and be on our way. He of course does the ole "I don't know, we only have a few rentals, maybe we can put together some old tires on a piece of wood and roll you on out of here (but he was friendlier at least).
We sat there about an hour and a half before the lady from the rental part of the service came and addressed us. She could get my Mom a rental truck or a tiny SUV but nothing like what she came in with. I joked with her to just give us a new suburban and we'll be on our way, or maybe a new Corvette, at least she LOL'd. She came back saying she did have 1 Traverse or whatever my mom drives, but they would have to move a bunch of cars to get it, it was currently blocked off. Another 30-40 minutes and we were on our way.
I got home and wanted to go eat breakfast, Wife seemed surprised that that would require waking up Javalina. He must have heard us making noise and comes down all half awake. Wife had run to the bank while we were gone, I had talked to her to pick up some tacos at Taco Cabana, but she said they might not have the big dozen tacos for $20 deal going. This is the point she headed home and got her very own "service engine soon". Now we would have to take her Kia in and see. So before we even ate, we had lost two cars to maintenance issues. Wife took off ahead of us and we followed to pick her up. Kia does not have a rental agency onsite, so tough titties to their customers.
They've been wanting to sell us a new Telluride, Wife has been wanting a new Telluride and I figure it is only an extra hundred bucks, maybe two and we could do it, but it would have meant sitting there haggling and losing another 3-4 hours. We ended up leaving, so we could eat, Dad was getting uppity and Javalina was way past his breakfast, so we had two biotches whining in the car.
Saturday, February 8, 2020
2/8/20 Closed Door, Open Window Kind Of Thing?
I have not liked the fact that Rolex is not being carried at Ben Bridge in the mall. Basically, if you take a step back and look at what is left, the mall is in a sad state of freefall. I can't think that the mall has everything if it doesn't have any high end products to shop for. Growing up, I thought you went to the mall to buy expensive cameras, TV's, heck, the mall closest to us in Eagle Pass had a music store. I thought people bought their music instruments at the malls. When I first arrived in Austin, Dillard's had a section where they sold "hi-fi stereo equipment" and VCRs and stuff. As time goes by, all that stuff keeps falling by the wayside. I just think back to Highland Mall and in the end, it was like 50% shoe stores (at least the last time we went). Without the differentiator (Rolex), Ben Bridge is just another jeweler, like Zales, nice but nothing to dream about.
Apparently, Rolex and other high end watch makers are trying to focus on their own stores and boutique shops. I am fine with that, but I am not sure if Austin is a big enough market to deserve a Rolex dedicated store. That said, we found the next best thing yesterday. Having to venture out of the comfort of the mall, we ended up at Korman Jewelers. This is an independent store not associated with a mall, but it has existed for many years, so they must be legitimate. The other option is the Ben Bridge at The Domain. If I am in the mood of making a day of it, maybe this works, otherwise, it seems like a lot of walking around outside for one store.
For all my whining about the mall dying, Boy and I were real excited upon entering the Korman store. We both headed straight for the closest brand, Omega, and they had many choices to choose from. They must have had about 40 watches to show, although the one I like with a meteor face was sadly, missing. The guy assigned to us said he could get us one if we gave him some time. I then told him my situation, that I had been waiting for a Rolex Milgauss to show up at the mall's Rolex dealer but now they no longer carry the brand. I am starting to believe the world shortage of these watches as they also had barely a handful of watches. Half of their back wall is set-up to display the Rolex brand, with the green felt on the walls and stuff, but they barely had I would say maybe 12-14 watches to show. He had some Cellinis he said he could work on the price for us and we could walk out with a steal at $16,000. It was tempting, but I really want the Milgauss as Boy's graduation gift. Boy was trying to talk me into the Omega meteorite watch instead. It is a beautiful watch, but a Rolex is a Rolex. The guy offered to put us on his waiting list, but he also said there are already other people waiting for the same thing.
I am sure we will end up buying some watches here in the immediate future. Boy, Javalina and I really like the idea of wearing beautiful watches, and this store had the two big brands plus Tudor, Hamilton, and a couple other up and comers. The guy was really great and he mentioned that they are trying to get Patek Phillippe, and or Audemars Piguet which usually round up the top 4 brands always mentioned as the best watches.
2/7/20 Friday, Taking Mijo Shopping One More Time?
We have to be the stereotypical Hispanic parents, Boy is turning 26 next month and I still want to buy him clothes, and for lack of a better word, take care of him. Pretty much everyone I talk to at work has sent their kids out to live their lives the best way they can. I keep getting the weird faces sometimes when I am recounting a story from the weekend and some little factoid pops up, such as when I was telling a story about how my son's GF has told me she will be taking over the washing clothes duties for him and I am trying to pile on the ironing of his dress shirts and I get looked at like I am slow or something "you still wash AANNNDDD iron his clothes???" I mean, "yeah, the washing is no big deal, if they could keep everything in the basket I put in their bathroom. Not to worry, Wife fought for the right to keep me ironing his clothes and I don't think Sweetie was that interested in doing the chore. That is sarcasm, ironing does kind of suck, but the boys don't care, they will wear their clothes all wrinkled and I like them looking sharp.
During Christmas time, I decided I would go ahead and buy him one more pair of those Lucky Penny shoes at $400 since he had his new job lined up and we couldn't figure what to get him for the Santa gift (I know, I know). Fast forward a month and he finds himself laid off/furloughed and I just felt bad for him. He only saw one, maybe two good checks as a salaried employee so of course I figure he is not going to have that much money laying around. I then offered to buy him a new suit or jacket and stuff so he can look nice at whatever interviews he ends up at.
While driving to the mall, we were talking and I asked him how much he had managed to save and he says basically a few thousand in the bank, since they aren't paying rent and I have his car note, he says he can be fine for about 5-6 months. Wife told him to apply for unemployment and he could qualify for around $500 a month or something like that. Since he says that is what his bills run him monthly, minus what we are helping with, and he could be unemployed for a year. The good thing is that I know Boy has a good work ethic and he won't just sit around, he likes staying busy and I don't think he is comfortable being a half-ass.
I thoroughly enjoy taking my boys shopping. Boy has a perfect frame with a size 40 chest and 31 waist that everything looks model good on him. He was trying to be thrifty and saying he had plenty of shirts but I figured a couple new shirts are always a good idea, specially for interviewing. I also bought him about 4 pants just to make sure he is alright. We ended the day eating at Thundercloud Subs and then I went home for a nap while I waited for the rest of my peeps to arrive. Javalina was going to stay late at school, but called me to go pick him up at 5:00pm, which ended my leisure time. We did look at watches though...
During Christmas time, I decided I would go ahead and buy him one more pair of those Lucky Penny shoes at $400 since he had his new job lined up and we couldn't figure what to get him for the Santa gift (I know, I know). Fast forward a month and he finds himself laid off/furloughed and I just felt bad for him. He only saw one, maybe two good checks as a salaried employee so of course I figure he is not going to have that much money laying around. I then offered to buy him a new suit or jacket and stuff so he can look nice at whatever interviews he ends up at.
While driving to the mall, we were talking and I asked him how much he had managed to save and he says basically a few thousand in the bank, since they aren't paying rent and I have his car note, he says he can be fine for about 5-6 months. Wife told him to apply for unemployment and he could qualify for around $500 a month or something like that. Since he says that is what his bills run him monthly, minus what we are helping with, and he could be unemployed for a year. The good thing is that I know Boy has a good work ethic and he won't just sit around, he likes staying busy and I don't think he is comfortable being a half-ass.
I thoroughly enjoy taking my boys shopping. Boy has a perfect frame with a size 40 chest and 31 waist that everything looks model good on him. He was trying to be thrifty and saying he had plenty of shirts but I figured a couple new shirts are always a good idea, specially for interviewing. I also bought him about 4 pants just to make sure he is alright. We ended the day eating at Thundercloud Subs and then I went home for a nap while I waited for the rest of my peeps to arrive. Javalina was going to stay late at school, but called me to go pick him up at 5:00pm, which ended my leisure time. We did look at watches though...
Thursday, February 6, 2020
2/6/20 Happy 72nd Birthday Dad?
Today is my dad's 72nd birthday and the old Fart doesn't look it, he is tougher than his balding little grey hairs show. He survived a rough childhood which he says had him working at the age of 13 to provide his own money for eating and smoking, which he started at that age (my paternal grandparents were around, but my grandpa liked his partying and there were 6 kids in the house, not counting some half sisters ole Gramps left back in California from a first and second wife who he outlived).
My dad was a man because that is what you did back in the day. He served his country when it was time in Vietnam, then came back and luckily for us, hooked up with my mom who they had known for years as his best friend dated my older aunt. When I came around, I am sure unexpectedly, they got married and moved it on to Corpus Christi where he helped support my mom finish her degree to become a teacher by driving and delivering ice all around Corpus Christi bay. These were some of the stories he told, which I always found hard to believe because the man gets lost everywhere we go without my mom helping him with directions, yet he drove trucks all his life for work.
After some adventures, and an overnight locked up for walking barefoot after one night of too many drinks, they headed back to Crystal City and he proceeded to find work driving trucks (there was a weird period where he was like a teacher aid when I was in elementary) in the oil fields and then in the 90s when the oil fields appeared to have dried up got on the long distance driving. I guess living like this made it ok in my head to live without Wife during the week as she works in La Pryor, as a side note.
He finally retired when he started having trouble with diabetes and has been living a lazy old man's life, as he should. He has had to fight through some ailments and he keeps coming out on top. I am pretty sure it is because mom keeps his butt in line. Lately, it was his kidneys failing, but after stopping all the extra painkillers he had been prescribed, he is doing better and the kidneys are working better. He is getting a run of tests done this week, here's hoping for a clean bill of health so we have him around for a few more years. I love you Dad, Happy Birthday.
My dad was a man because that is what you did back in the day. He served his country when it was time in Vietnam, then came back and luckily for us, hooked up with my mom who they had known for years as his best friend dated my older aunt. When I came around, I am sure unexpectedly, they got married and moved it on to Corpus Christi where he helped support my mom finish her degree to become a teacher by driving and delivering ice all around Corpus Christi bay. These were some of the stories he told, which I always found hard to believe because the man gets lost everywhere we go without my mom helping him with directions, yet he drove trucks all his life for work.
After some adventures, and an overnight locked up for walking barefoot after one night of too many drinks, they headed back to Crystal City and he proceeded to find work driving trucks (there was a weird period where he was like a teacher aid when I was in elementary) in the oil fields and then in the 90s when the oil fields appeared to have dried up got on the long distance driving. I guess living like this made it ok in my head to live without Wife during the week as she works in La Pryor, as a side note.
He finally retired when he started having trouble with diabetes and has been living a lazy old man's life, as he should. He has had to fight through some ailments and he keeps coming out on top. I am pretty sure it is because mom keeps his butt in line. Lately, it was his kidneys failing, but after stopping all the extra painkillers he had been prescribed, he is doing better and the kidneys are working better. He is getting a run of tests done this week, here's hoping for a clean bill of health so we have him around for a few more years. I love you Dad, Happy Birthday.
2/5/20 Lucky Chops Make Any Band Instrument Cool?
Now that I am a musician again, I was looking for inspiration online, I mean YouTube has everything, right? Man, it did not take long. After a couple of videos on how reeds are made and buying the right saxophone, I started getting videos for a band of what looked like street musicians playing in a subway. No thanks was my original opinion until I opened it up and was almost immediately floored.
These guys are playing a Tuba, er sousaphone (excuse me), a trombone, a tenor sax, a bari sax, a trumpet and a small drum set. They might be a lot of things but they shouldn't be cool, but fuck, the music they are playing sounds out of this world. I mean it is the same classics everyone plays in junior high, My Girl, Stand By Me, Funkytown but with so much energy, they seem like different songs.
It turns out, the bari sax guy was the breakout star and has now left the band. I tracked his path and he went to another similar band, Too Many Zooz, to working with Beyoncé and the Dixie Chicks somewhat in the background, but what I read in the comments was that his performance was being discussed the next day in the morning news rounds. I then found the guy in front of an orchestra and he is playing the star, like what a piano great or a violin virtuoso does, with a bari sax. This guy, Leo Pellegrino is something special. He dances the whole time with a big ass bari sax, making it look sexy and light as a feather.
He has also figured out how to get more range out of a horn, creating noises that would or could sound annoying, but he makes it sound like he means it, mostly with attitude. I could bite on the mouthpiece and get a weird shriek out of mine, back in the day and I would use the sound occasionally, but he makes the horn shriek and does scales with that sound, it is most impressive.
I don't know how I hadn't heard of these guys before, every song they have on YouTube has 2 to 4 million views, that is huge for a "subway band". I saw them perform in a studio and they go for dorkier instruments, like a bass clarinet, and even a contrabass clarinet, which almost too big to walk around with. In a time where most music is created electronically, I love that these guys exist and are still making music the way it should be, by playing on instruments that require years of dedication and sacrifice.
I even checked if they were touring anywhere near here in the coming year, but it appears they stay in the northern states. I still consider it a win to have found these guys. I already looked them up on my Spotify and they have music there, so I can listen while driving around now, anytime.
These guys are playing a Tuba, er sousaphone (excuse me), a trombone, a tenor sax, a bari sax, a trumpet and a small drum set. They might be a lot of things but they shouldn't be cool, but fuck, the music they are playing sounds out of this world. I mean it is the same classics everyone plays in junior high, My Girl, Stand By Me, Funkytown but with so much energy, they seem like different songs.
It turns out, the bari sax guy was the breakout star and has now left the band. I tracked his path and he went to another similar band, Too Many Zooz, to working with Beyoncé and the Dixie Chicks somewhat in the background, but what I read in the comments was that his performance was being discussed the next day in the morning news rounds. I then found the guy in front of an orchestra and he is playing the star, like what a piano great or a violin virtuoso does, with a bari sax. This guy, Leo Pellegrino is something special. He dances the whole time with a big ass bari sax, making it look sexy and light as a feather.
He has also figured out how to get more range out of a horn, creating noises that would or could sound annoying, but he makes it sound like he means it, mostly with attitude. I could bite on the mouthpiece and get a weird shriek out of mine, back in the day and I would use the sound occasionally, but he makes the horn shriek and does scales with that sound, it is most impressive.
I don't know how I hadn't heard of these guys before, every song they have on YouTube has 2 to 4 million views, that is huge for a "subway band". I saw them perform in a studio and they go for dorkier instruments, like a bass clarinet, and even a contrabass clarinet, which almost too big to walk around with. In a time where most music is created electronically, I love that these guys exist and are still making music the way it should be, by playing on instruments that require years of dedication and sacrifice.
I even checked if they were touring anywhere near here in the coming year, but it appears they stay in the northern states. I still consider it a win to have found these guys. I already looked them up on my Spotify and they have music there, so I can listen while driving around now, anytime.
Tuesday, February 4, 2020
2/4/20 Felt Like Rudolph Before the Red Nose Is Exposed?
If I could fly like Rudolph did when he finds out the little girl reindeer thinks he's cute, I would. Leading up to the practice Sunday afternoon was tense and stressful for me. I kept thinking "dammit, I screwed up eating beans last night, my weak ass is going to fart and embarrass me in front of all these people." I find it terrifying to go into a brand new environment and have to meet new people. Luckily, Wife and Javalina walked in with me, something akin to being the little kid getting dropped off for the first time in daycare, "but mommy, they're all going to laugh at me..." as I held on tight to her leg.
I got past the nerves by focusing on getting my sax out and setting it up along with my new music stand. The guy that recruited me from the Casual Male store saw me and thanked me for showing up. I just told him I was a little nervous and hadn't learned all the music. He said that was fine, this is all about having fun. At this point, everyone was warming up, I heard flutes and violins going up and down the scales, and I felt like "am I even good enough to be here?" Not because I couldn't play but because I always played bari sax and alto is a whole different animal. Bari sax plays the low notes, the background stuff. With the alto sax, it is just a matter of time before I am playing the lead melody.
It did not take long, on the first song "My Girl", the conductor stopped and pointed me out to play the lead melody and I hit it pretty solid. Lucky for me, this was a pretty easy song to follow on paper. The recruit guy and the other clarinet looked over at me and said "yeah, you are good, this is going to be great." Then he also added, that saxophone sounds real good, mine does not have that clear of a tone." That is the kind of compliments I eat up with the big spoon, I love being told I am good. I did not go through all seven pieces of music, it was a lot, but I was able to fumble along the other pieces and felt like I accomplished something.
Afterwards, I had other people come up and say welcome to the group and one lady introduced herself and said I sounded real good, and it was going to be nice having a saxophone who can hold himself up and be heard. I told her I had just picked up the saxophone last night and had not played in thirty years, she was impressed and just left saying wow, that is amazing. I was honestly impressed with myself, I did not expect for it all to come back so fast. I honestly felt like I belonged right away. I have always been quietly a band dork and I think I have found my group.
In the car on the way back, I wanted to hear Javalina's opinion and he was as frigid as always. I said "so, admit it, you were impressed with my playing." he just said "well, you are always saying you were good, so I kind of figured you would be, so yeah, you are alright."
I got past the nerves by focusing on getting my sax out and setting it up along with my new music stand. The guy that recruited me from the Casual Male store saw me and thanked me for showing up. I just told him I was a little nervous and hadn't learned all the music. He said that was fine, this is all about having fun. At this point, everyone was warming up, I heard flutes and violins going up and down the scales, and I felt like "am I even good enough to be here?" Not because I couldn't play but because I always played bari sax and alto is a whole different animal. Bari sax plays the low notes, the background stuff. With the alto sax, it is just a matter of time before I am playing the lead melody.
It did not take long, on the first song "My Girl", the conductor stopped and pointed me out to play the lead melody and I hit it pretty solid. Lucky for me, this was a pretty easy song to follow on paper. The recruit guy and the other clarinet looked over at me and said "yeah, you are good, this is going to be great." Then he also added, that saxophone sounds real good, mine does not have that clear of a tone." That is the kind of compliments I eat up with the big spoon, I love being told I am good. I did not go through all seven pieces of music, it was a lot, but I was able to fumble along the other pieces and felt like I accomplished something.
Afterwards, I had other people come up and say welcome to the group and one lady introduced herself and said I sounded real good, and it was going to be nice having a saxophone who can hold himself up and be heard. I told her I had just picked up the saxophone last night and had not played in thirty years, she was impressed and just left saying wow, that is amazing. I was honestly impressed with myself, I did not expect for it all to come back so fast. I honestly felt like I belonged right away. I have always been quietly a band dork and I think I have found my group.
In the car on the way back, I wanted to hear Javalina's opinion and he was as frigid as always. I said "so, admit it, you were impressed with my playing." he just said "well, you are always saying you were good, so I kind of figured you would be, so yeah, you are alright."
Monday, February 3, 2020
2/3/20 Pulled The Trigger On A Sax?
Well, I finally got back on the horse. Yesterday, with less than an hour before the store closed, we walked in and I got a new saxophone to start, hopefully, a new chapter which had been missing for far too long. Looking back now, on Sunday morning, it has been over thirty years that I played reading music in a band. I still remember graduation day and playing pomp and circumstance for the last time thinking wow, just like that, I'll probably never play again.
I already feel like a fire was turned on again. We walked in and I intended to get a student basic saxophone like Javalina had gotten a few years back, but I couldn't do it. He brought one ut and said they only had used ones to rent. First off, I don't really like used anything, but that seemed like the only option. I was kind of mad internally, because I waited too long and Strait Music, the other place, told me that they did have new ones to rent. I kept asking the guy questions and he then suggested a intermediate step-up saxophone on the wall that he had for display. Instead of looking like a beginner sax (brassy body with silver supports and silver keys), this one was solid gold looking all the way.
Whereas, the student version could cost me $1400 if I bought it outright, this one will cost me $2000 if I purchase it. I can also choose to keep making the $69 payment until I pay off the non-reduced price of $3000. There is a 30% discount for purchasing it instead of renting. I am still unsure about the brand, but it looks great and sounds ok so far. It comes in an awesome case with backpack straps, if I want to carry it that way, or a shoulder strap to hang on either side of me, or handles on top and the side for options to carry. There is also a big zippered pocket where a music book would fit and then another pocket on top for smaller essentials like pens and stuff would go.
I ended up buying a bunch of reeds at like $5 a piece, an extra mouth piece at a cost of $120, and a cleaning kit. It felt so awesome to be getting my feet wet and preparing to do this. I get home and of course I wanted to go to the bathroom before sitting down with my new toy and ole Knucklehead (Javalina) tells Wife he wants to play it before I even get a chance to open it. Wife said he took it out and promptly wanted to lay it down on the cold granite on the island so he could get the mouthpiece and reeds out. He is lucky I did not see or hear this, I might have punched him in the head. With a fur lined case shaped to hold it, why would he want to lay it down on a hard slippery rock surface and risk bending or scratching it? Wife told him to put it away and wait until I came down. I did offer to rent him a sax if he wanted to join me in the orchestra, but he says he has too many things going on in school.
It took a couple seconds, but apparently, after 30 years, I can still read music. The alto sax is very different than the bari that I used to play. I mostly played low notes below the scale, the alto plays the lead part, usually and tends to prefer the high notes above the scale. I am still going with my fingers up slowly, specially when it is a high C, which is 2 lines above the scale and shit, I am not even sure how to finger a high D, I think it is one of the left thumb valves, but I'll figure it out. The orchestra is performing about 7 songs which I printed out and went through fairly ok for a first time. I think I practiced about two hours last night then I stopped. I got worried my mouth is going to be sore from biting down on the mouth piece as I am not used to it anymore.
Two of the songs are a bit challenging in that there are a lot of notes and the beat is fast, but I can get through it slowly, so I just need to practice more. I figure they will understand that I am new to all this and I just got the music and sax, so I need to knock the rust off first. It will all come back soon enough.
I already feel like a fire was turned on again. We walked in and I intended to get a student basic saxophone like Javalina had gotten a few years back, but I couldn't do it. He brought one ut and said they only had used ones to rent. First off, I don't really like used anything, but that seemed like the only option. I was kind of mad internally, because I waited too long and Strait Music, the other place, told me that they did have new ones to rent. I kept asking the guy questions and he then suggested a intermediate step-up saxophone on the wall that he had for display. Instead of looking like a beginner sax (brassy body with silver supports and silver keys), this one was solid gold looking all the way.
Whereas, the student version could cost me $1400 if I bought it outright, this one will cost me $2000 if I purchase it. I can also choose to keep making the $69 payment until I pay off the non-reduced price of $3000. There is a 30% discount for purchasing it instead of renting. I am still unsure about the brand, but it looks great and sounds ok so far. It comes in an awesome case with backpack straps, if I want to carry it that way, or a shoulder strap to hang on either side of me, or handles on top and the side for options to carry. There is also a big zippered pocket where a music book would fit and then another pocket on top for smaller essentials like pens and stuff would go.
I ended up buying a bunch of reeds at like $5 a piece, an extra mouth piece at a cost of $120, and a cleaning kit. It felt so awesome to be getting my feet wet and preparing to do this. I get home and of course I wanted to go to the bathroom before sitting down with my new toy and ole Knucklehead (Javalina) tells Wife he wants to play it before I even get a chance to open it. Wife said he took it out and promptly wanted to lay it down on the cold granite on the island so he could get the mouthpiece and reeds out. He is lucky I did not see or hear this, I might have punched him in the head. With a fur lined case shaped to hold it, why would he want to lay it down on a hard slippery rock surface and risk bending or scratching it? Wife told him to put it away and wait until I came down. I did offer to rent him a sax if he wanted to join me in the orchestra, but he says he has too many things going on in school.
It took a couple seconds, but apparently, after 30 years, I can still read music. The alto sax is very different than the bari that I used to play. I mostly played low notes below the scale, the alto plays the lead part, usually and tends to prefer the high notes above the scale. I am still going with my fingers up slowly, specially when it is a high C, which is 2 lines above the scale and shit, I am not even sure how to finger a high D, I think it is one of the left thumb valves, but I'll figure it out. The orchestra is performing about 7 songs which I printed out and went through fairly ok for a first time. I think I practiced about two hours last night then I stopped. I got worried my mouth is going to be sore from biting down on the mouth piece as I am not used to it anymore.
Two of the songs are a bit challenging in that there are a lot of notes and the beat is fast, but I can get through it slowly, so I just need to practice more. I figure they will understand that I am new to all this and I just got the music and sax, so I need to knock the rust off first. It will all come back soon enough.
Sunday, February 2, 2020
2/2/20 Wife's Car Acts The Jerk?
I don't mean to be harsh to the little butt plug, but the Kia Soul finally did not do as it was told. Wife started her semester of classes and as usual rushed of in a fury in the morning. She didn't even have time to listen to my thoughts on the demise of modern musical instruments in American culture as seen through the eyes of a couple of You tubers (no offense taken, nobody wants to hear me talk about this kind of stuff). She managed to get a "entertain the boys while I am gone." All that got was a finger in the air once I closed the door. Javalina had a sleepover with three friends, what am I going to do, bring out coloring books?
After going to the bathroom, I took a nap until 11:00am. I get up at 6:00am to write, mostly so I can sit alone with my thoughts, not to do activities. I finished writing at 9:00am, after she had left, so I went back to bed. I then got up at 11:00am and offered the boys breakfast, which I made eggs and winnies with refried beans on the side and some tortillas. By the time I finished, 2 of the 3 boys had left. We then went and dropped off the other one around 12:30pm.
I still had plans on going and getting a rental sax so I can have an instrument to play on today (sunday). We got back, Javalina was going to go with me, maybe I decided to clean, we did stop at the bank for a bit, but before I knew it, it was 3:30pm, and I had just got out of the shower. I was thinking I have plenty of time, the place closes at 5:00pm, I thought. I was kind of dragging ass, so Wife could get back and join us, but if not, I was willing to go alone. Just as I was ready, she calls that she locked the keys in the car and I needed to go with the spare key. GODDAMMIT!!!! I HATE STUPID SHIT THAT DETRACTS ME!!!!! I was so pissed because now I was not going to get enough time to go rent a sax, which meant I might as well forget this whole orchestra thing that se kind of pushed me into.
I got Javalina and rushed over to her. She kept calling like that was going to make me quicker, and of course the Excursion was nearly empty of gas, so before getting on the freeway, I had to gas up, that got us another call. I don't know if it is all the construction, but San Marcos is now only about 15 minutes away, I guess driving 75-80 helps. We approached the car, I didn't even get into the parking lot. Javalina clicked the spare key and she opened the door (we did try it by phone and that does nothing). We then headed back and she got to the house within 2-3 minutes of us.
The part that pisses me off was that she can keep her keys in the purse and just being near the car it will unlock. Why the FUCK, with the keys in the car would it not work the same way? She put her purse in her backpack (I guess that is what she gets for carrying such a small purse, that wouldn't happen to women with adult purses) and then opened the trunk magically by being near it. She then put her backpack in and closed the back door and now she was locked out. The fucking back door does not open with the key inside versus outside, not sure how it knows, but it does. Is that clever or infuriating? I understand if the car is on you wouldn't want a stranger opening the door at a stop, but come on, it should open if the car is off. While we were driving I had Javalina check the times on the music stores and one of them closed at 6:00pm, so we made it with about 40 minutes to spare,
After going to the bathroom, I took a nap until 11:00am. I get up at 6:00am to write, mostly so I can sit alone with my thoughts, not to do activities. I finished writing at 9:00am, after she had left, so I went back to bed. I then got up at 11:00am and offered the boys breakfast, which I made eggs and winnies with refried beans on the side and some tortillas. By the time I finished, 2 of the 3 boys had left. We then went and dropped off the other one around 12:30pm.
I still had plans on going and getting a rental sax so I can have an instrument to play on today (sunday). We got back, Javalina was going to go with me, maybe I decided to clean, we did stop at the bank for a bit, but before I knew it, it was 3:30pm, and I had just got out of the shower. I was thinking I have plenty of time, the place closes at 5:00pm, I thought. I was kind of dragging ass, so Wife could get back and join us, but if not, I was willing to go alone. Just as I was ready, she calls that she locked the keys in the car and I needed to go with the spare key. GODDAMMIT!!!! I HATE STUPID SHIT THAT DETRACTS ME!!!!! I was so pissed because now I was not going to get enough time to go rent a sax, which meant I might as well forget this whole orchestra thing that se kind of pushed me into.
I got Javalina and rushed over to her. She kept calling like that was going to make me quicker, and of course the Excursion was nearly empty of gas, so before getting on the freeway, I had to gas up, that got us another call. I don't know if it is all the construction, but San Marcos is now only about 15 minutes away, I guess driving 75-80 helps. We approached the car, I didn't even get into the parking lot. Javalina clicked the spare key and she opened the door (we did try it by phone and that does nothing). We then headed back and she got to the house within 2-3 minutes of us.
The part that pisses me off was that she can keep her keys in the purse and just being near the car it will unlock. Why the FUCK, with the keys in the car would it not work the same way? She put her purse in her backpack (I guess that is what she gets for carrying such a small purse, that wouldn't happen to women with adult purses) and then opened the trunk magically by being near it. She then put her backpack in and closed the back door and now she was locked out. The fucking back door does not open with the key inside versus outside, not sure how it knows, but it does. Is that clever or infuriating? I understand if the car is on you wouldn't want a stranger opening the door at a stop, but come on, it should open if the car is off. While we were driving I had Javalina check the times on the music stores and one of them closed at 6:00pm, so we made it with about 40 minutes to spare,
Saturday, February 1, 2020
2/1/20 The Orchestra Just Got Real?
It took a couple of days after we talked to the orchestra guy before he got back to me. I was starting to think he had forgotten my email or phone number. This week, he finally got back to me and there is a first practice tomorrow. I could go just check it out or I can show up ready to participate but that means me getting my hands on a sax today.
I went to the two places we looked at for Javalina's sax 3-4 years ago when he was starting out in band Strait Music and Music and Arts. They both have plans where one can rent a saxophone for around $60, but it is an entry level horn. I know this should be good enough for me, I haven't played in a good thirty years, since 1989, other than the one semester in 1991 at the Junior college and then fiddling around with Javalina's sax a couple years ago. My ego, though, says I should be playing a professional sax, which quickly run past $3000 and up to $20,000, for a quality Baritone saxophone. The one good thing about renting is that they will take up to the first twelve months of payments and reduce that from the cost of one of their more expensive professional quality horns. Wife says to do this, I might not like the orchestra thing (it is in a church and they might not like an atheist amongst them). If I stick to a rental, I can just return it and I'll just be out the $60 or so a month for as many months as I keep it. If I keep it long enough, I will pay it off, at a cost of $2000. Another option is to buy the student sax outright and get a 30% discount from the price, so I could go get that saxophone for about $1400. That is about as low as I can see me spending to start playing again.
There are some wild options out there though. I can look on Craigslist and buy a used sax from some unknown and hope for the best. I'll probably get a mouth disease going this route but hey, I'll save some bucks. The really wild idea is to order a Chinese saxophone online. There are many saxophones out there and they are not all made by Yamaha or Selmer, or even Yanagisawa. Apparently, the Chinese have been making knock-offs and now are selling them for as cheap as $200 and the reviews I've seen and heard on YouTube the last few nights sound pretty good to me. I sat and listened to a guy that says he has been studying this for some fifty years and says yeah, 30 years ago they didn't know what they were doing, but they have in that time learned what they are doing and are succeeding at it. Like he said, the saxophone has not changed in 100 years, it is a metal tube with openings and springs, just a mechanical assembly, it can be mastered.
I am going to start with the rental most likely but it would be fun to order some of these $200 saxes and compare. The real fun thing is they come in wild colors like pink and royal blue and black, so I might eventually order all sorts of colors.
I went to the two places we looked at for Javalina's sax 3-4 years ago when he was starting out in band Strait Music and Music and Arts. They both have plans where one can rent a saxophone for around $60, but it is an entry level horn. I know this should be good enough for me, I haven't played in a good thirty years, since 1989, other than the one semester in 1991 at the Junior college and then fiddling around with Javalina's sax a couple years ago. My ego, though, says I should be playing a professional sax, which quickly run past $3000 and up to $20,000, for a quality Baritone saxophone. The one good thing about renting is that they will take up to the first twelve months of payments and reduce that from the cost of one of their more expensive professional quality horns. Wife says to do this, I might not like the orchestra thing (it is in a church and they might not like an atheist amongst them). If I stick to a rental, I can just return it and I'll just be out the $60 or so a month for as many months as I keep it. If I keep it long enough, I will pay it off, at a cost of $2000. Another option is to buy the student sax outright and get a 30% discount from the price, so I could go get that saxophone for about $1400. That is about as low as I can see me spending to start playing again.
There are some wild options out there though. I can look on Craigslist and buy a used sax from some unknown and hope for the best. I'll probably get a mouth disease going this route but hey, I'll save some bucks. The really wild idea is to order a Chinese saxophone online. There are many saxophones out there and they are not all made by Yamaha or Selmer, or even Yanagisawa. Apparently, the Chinese have been making knock-offs and now are selling them for as cheap as $200 and the reviews I've seen and heard on YouTube the last few nights sound pretty good to me. I sat and listened to a guy that says he has been studying this for some fifty years and says yeah, 30 years ago they didn't know what they were doing, but they have in that time learned what they are doing and are succeeding at it. Like he said, the saxophone has not changed in 100 years, it is a metal tube with openings and springs, just a mechanical assembly, it can be mastered.
I am going to start with the rental most likely but it would be fun to order some of these $200 saxes and compare. The real fun thing is they come in wild colors like pink and royal blue and black, so I might eventually order all sorts of colors.
1/31/20 Boy Was Furloughed?
I was out this morning after a hectic week, I went out pricing some saxophones to possibly get so I can play with the San Marcos Orchestra. As I got home around 11:30am (I had been at work until about 9:15am), I noticed both Boy's car and Sweetie's there in the driveway. I thought of telling them that this habit of sleeping all morning was not helpful to becoming successful adults and that you have to go to work regularly or they might actually fire you. Then after thinking about it, I realized stuff like that is why they wanted to get their own apartment and I don't think they are ready for that, so maybe I'll just keep my mouth shut.
I wasn't sitting at the kitchen table for more than two minutes before Boy came down and told me he had just finished getting furloughed along with everyone else in the company. I was as shocked as him because two weeks ago his company Nano announced that they were buying some other big company (I don't want to talk about their inner dealings) and it sounded like they were on their way to mega successes. Now, they are all pretty much out on the street having to start over. I guess as Wife said "you said you like working for start-ups, well this is one of the negatives, that they are not going to necessarily succeed, long term."
Boy was a little stressed as it had just happened, but he is more than ok, I told him "at least you didn't buy that Tesla you went and tested, where would you get $900 a month? Or move out. I know as a young couple they would prefer their own apartment, but, as we kept saying, neither of you has a degree, save up some money first, I don't want them struggling like we did. A $1200-$1500 rent note would be very stressful and might have forced him to do something he might not want to, like go back to work at Alamo Drafthouse. Worst case scenario, we just keep doing what we've been doing and we keep paying for his Ford Edge, it has been a fine little SUV for him.
I say this is a good opportunity at this point, he being only 25, he can focus and realize it is quite important to finish his degree, this company wanted him full time and they were not that concerned about him finishing, but now he gets to see that it is more helpful to have the degree when applying to other companies. He can focus on that, apply at so many other places, luckily this is Austin, home of the high tech worker. The 70K they had offered him actually made him the lowest paid of is group of friends that are working with their degrees, so maybe he ends up making a little more with a more established company like a Dell, or Intel, maybe even AMD, they are all around here.
I was furloughed for 5-6 months back in 2008. Eventually we all came back to work, and it was funny that after they said we should consider ourselves lucky to have our jobs, we picked up a big contract and in short time we went through a period of about three years of non-stop OT and making the most I ever made working where I do. I guess I believe things could change and they might call him back like they did with us. Either way, Mijo is good, we got his back. He is a hard worker, I am sure he will find something else ASAP.
I wasn't sitting at the kitchen table for more than two minutes before Boy came down and told me he had just finished getting furloughed along with everyone else in the company. I was as shocked as him because two weeks ago his company Nano announced that they were buying some other big company (I don't want to talk about their inner dealings) and it sounded like they were on their way to mega successes. Now, they are all pretty much out on the street having to start over. I guess as Wife said "you said you like working for start-ups, well this is one of the negatives, that they are not going to necessarily succeed, long term."
Boy was a little stressed as it had just happened, but he is more than ok, I told him "at least you didn't buy that Tesla you went and tested, where would you get $900 a month? Or move out. I know as a young couple they would prefer their own apartment, but, as we kept saying, neither of you has a degree, save up some money first, I don't want them struggling like we did. A $1200-$1500 rent note would be very stressful and might have forced him to do something he might not want to, like go back to work at Alamo Drafthouse. Worst case scenario, we just keep doing what we've been doing and we keep paying for his Ford Edge, it has been a fine little SUV for him.
I say this is a good opportunity at this point, he being only 25, he can focus and realize it is quite important to finish his degree, this company wanted him full time and they were not that concerned about him finishing, but now he gets to see that it is more helpful to have the degree when applying to other companies. He can focus on that, apply at so many other places, luckily this is Austin, home of the high tech worker. The 70K they had offered him actually made him the lowest paid of is group of friends that are working with their degrees, so maybe he ends up making a little more with a more established company like a Dell, or Intel, maybe even AMD, they are all around here.
I was furloughed for 5-6 months back in 2008. Eventually we all came back to work, and it was funny that after they said we should consider ourselves lucky to have our jobs, we picked up a big contract and in short time we went through a period of about three years of non-stop OT and making the most I ever made working where I do. I guess I believe things could change and they might call him back like they did with us. Either way, Mijo is good, we got his back. He is a hard worker, I am sure he will find something else ASAP.
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