Playing Catch-up - The World In My Eyes

Playing Catch-up - The World In My Eyes

Current mood:restless

Hola! Been incredibly busy and doing the 7 day a week gig thing again. Getting ready to go do a wedding now, and had a minute of downtime, so I thought I would send out a quick note of what has been happening in my world....

Got a new computer to eventually replace the old home PC. Fantastic deal! Got it home and configured it, put it online and after about 5 minutes, it LITERALLY caught fire! Took the CPU back and exchanged it and the new one works flawlessly. It took forever for the aroma to get out of the house...that is a memorable smell. A friend on a karaoke forum mentioned that all electrical techs know that all wires are filled with smoke, and once the smoke leaks out, the unit is done, LOL! I needed a new one...technology was passing me by on the old one...and all my resources and storage were maxed out to boot.

At all these parties I have been working I have been able to eat some interesting food. One thing that caught my buds was an appetizer made from hollowed out jalapenos, and the filling was half mozzarella, half chunky peanut butter, with italian spices added...pretty tasty. Got to eat some elk as well...well prepared over Zatarains style cajun rice...the elk on its own was good...not gamey at all...just a bit chewier than well done beef...but not tough at all. Also discovered a tequila I like...a lot... Cuervo Clasico. Very clean buzz and no trouble in the morning. Will be trying that again. Tried a new tequila last night...it is a cuervo that has lime in it already...cant remember the name. I tried it straight, not bad. Brett and Jimmy made margaritas with them and thought they were nice.

MY HOUSE IS FINALLY PAINTED!! Every square inch, and all in a different color...the hideous paint I hated so is now gone, and the house looks like new as well. I will have to get some pics posted. There is a very nice transformation as the colors are very earthy and natural and pull together with the surroundings nicely. No more greys, blues...BLECCH!

I went ahead and formally closed the PO Box we had. The clerk has been there a while. I gave him the number, and the keys and he got the card out of the file. He remembered my Dad...said he was a trip. He remembered that we got a lot of mail from my brother overseas ... who was sitting in the car waiting for me, LOL! I am sure some codger had had a box there longer, but that was a long run. But, it is done, and I dont have to think about it any longer.

My buddy Nilsson is the newest KJ in the UK. He replicated my hardware set up, bought a library of discs and did his first show last night. Cant wait to hear his adventures... Now I may have to book that wedding in Bristol since I know I can nick some familiar equipment there in a pinch, LOL!

All for now...I had better be getting ready to get my show on the road. Memorial day weekend is always a fun weekend...I have a standing order party that I do every year on the Sunday before Memorial Day, and it is always a good party, GREAT food and drink, and of course, quality music and karaoke, LOL!

All the best...more later when there is time.

Closing the PO Box...

Another milestone from the past to get by...

Current mood:melancholy

I have a bill on my desk to pay...or not. It is for a post office box.

It seems at some point after our trek to Florida, my father had a problem with someone leaving a popsicle in our mailbox, or something similar to that effect...and my father also had some issues about privacy, so he secured a post office box at the local mail station. This was probably about 1968.

In 1985 or so I got my own post office box in the same building...

Since I had been taking care of my mothers affairs before her death, I have been checking both boxes, and after her death, one thing niggling the back of my brain, the most smallest detail, was that one day I would have to close that mailbox we have used since 1968.

Today I have that bill on my desk to pay, and I have to decide to close it or sentimentally keep it open for another 6mos or a year. I actually thought about keeping it and changing my address, but I love the fact that I have had the same mailing address since being on my own basically...

It is minutae, I know, but the sentimentality of it all has me waxing a bit nostalgic today, and the inevitable lack of payment to the post office resulting in the closure of the po box will also be some closure to the past 37 years or so... I have already redirected most of her mail to my address, with the exception of the bank statements from her checking account...another chore I have to handle soon...closing the bank accounts.

I suppose sometime soon I should really finish clearing her house out. I kind of put that to the side. Nilsson spent the night in there while here and assures me there are no ghosts, LOL!

Carma Carma Carma Chameleon....LOL

Carma Carma Carma Chameleon....LOL

The car drama never ends. Those who know me well will appreciate this, especially if you have been following my past blogs.

While I was up North in Virginia, I spoke to Lori on the phone and she informed me her van was acting up and that she was driving mine in the interim until I got home and could diagnose hers. I got home last night and tried to figure it out, but it was complicated, and figured it could wait until today. Jacky came home in a borrowed car to tell me her truck was broken as well (brakes) but she supposedly has this under control, BUT she has decided to sell her truck. It is too big for her now that she is commuting to work like the rest of us.

Took Lori's van to a friend who does computer automotive diagnosis, and all the way there, the symptoms Lori described were no longer apparant. He thought the battery might be going and suggested I go to our friend at the auto electric place. Nothing is simple...everything has to be complicated, LOL! So off I went, and we figured the battery was done. I asked him how much it would be just to relace it there...and it was about 15 dollars more than I could have done it myself, BUT, remember....I am a fancy man. LOL!

I had flashbacks of the last 2 battery replacements and spent the money. It was cheaper than the money I would have had to spend on alcohol to get over my anger had something broken while I was changing the battery, LOL!

Fancy-man signing out.

Home Again

Home Again

Current mood:mellow

Back home after my excursion to Virginia for a few days. What a blast! Online friends of mine from all over met there...as far away as England and Oregon, Nova Scotia and all points in the US...converging upon a hotel in Richmond Virginia to commemorate the 10 year anniversary of a forum we haunt online, and sing, and drink and talk shop and socialize. I got in on Thursday afternoon and stayed until Sunday evening. Rented a car while there and spent some time exploring around in the bit of down time I had.

It was just nice to see some old friends again, make some new ones and get a change of scenery and away from work and demands for a few days.

Will probably share more about all that another time...just bloggin for now!

Same old, some new...

Same old, some new...

Current mood:mellow

Hola, just dropping a note in the old blog pile here to fill my friends in on whats up! Havent been in contact much as I have been working so much, and trying to stay caught up on my sleep as well. This leaves not much free daytime or social time. Fortunately I get to see a lot of my friends AT work!

Had my first day off in a while today, thought I would play catch up in the office, but that was not to be. I was informed at 2 pm that the frig was taking a dump. Wasnt about to think about calling a repairman on a holiday weekend, and the frig is pretty old anyway, so replacement was my first thought. I do have a frig in the house next door, but it is old and I fear that moving it will kill it as well, so just gonna use it where it is until the new one is delivered. Got a good deal at the scratch and dent place...stainless steel exterior, pretty much no frills otherwise...just what I wanted at a price well below retail. I am a fancy man and will not pay retail, LOL!

Gearing up to leave for Richmond on the 26th/27th for a few days. Meeting some friends up there to talk shop, gossip and sing and drink and eat. I guess you would call that a convention. Thats what the taxman will be hearing it called, LOL!

Speaking of taxes, got them done and submitted in a timely fashion. Self employment tax is a beeyatch, but pay I do. Had to send in what I owed, PLUS my first estimated payment for 2006.

Preparing to have the house painted. Was hoping it would be done before I left, but not holding out hope...betcha it will happen while I am gone and not here to supervise. I was inspired by a local bank...loved the color combo, and they opened a second branch and I again was enamored of the colors, so that is the combo the house will be painted in.

I also have contracted with someone to re-roof a portion of my house. We got rain this week briefly and SURPRISE! Leaks are here. Patched it once, but just gonna do it right this time.

And people wonder why I work so much, LOL!

Nilsson has left back to England today with the kids. Hopefully he will return again soonly...I believe maybe in October for a week. I really enjoyed the time spent with him...most at work and the commute to and fro, but we did manage some other outings. We have amazing ironies in our lives that lead us to believe we were possibly separated at birth...except that I am older than he, LOL! But, he and I share similar life experiences, goals, and interests. Chicks dig his accent...LOL! Funny stories there...

Oh well, all for now...gotta go get thru some more of this mail and find food...I have sent Lori off for food and a movie for tonight. Tomorrow is Easter. I dont really celebrate it myself, and I have to work tomorrow. Lori is going to her parents for Easter dinner and to celebrate her daughter Samanthas 20th b-day. I will not be attending since I will be getting ready for work.

All the best to you all...more interesting stuff will post when I am inspired.

Happy Easter to those who are observing.

Here is one for the armchair psychiatrists...

Here is one for the armchair psychiatrists...

Current mood:awake

I rarely, if ever remember my dreams. I rarely have nightmares. This morning I awoke from a nightmare, which had pretty defined details until the end...at the end there was a blurry melange of outcomes and no resolution. Curiously, I was able to retain some details, so for grins, I thought I would post them.

I was doing a gig...of course. It was at the Elementary School I attended as a child. That is enough of a nightmare in itself, LOL! KIDS!!!!!! AHHHHH! Anyway, that did not play into it, so I digress...

There were some people there that for some reason were not happy with me. At no time was I remembering doing DJ or Karaoke or working at all, most of my memory is going to and from the van, loading and generally just being there.

I was aware that the people who didnt like me...2 guys in particular, were in from out of town to visit a relative who was either sick or dying in a hospital or rest home. These two guys were giving me constant shit...one skinny muscular guy and a big doofy brute of a guy. They would basically terrorize me to a point to try to get me to do something, but I would not succumb to the bait and hit them or start something they could blame me for. I kept asking for help and no one responded to me.

They started making sexual suggestions and when I got touched inappropriately, I broke away to try and get some help. I went to go to my van and could not find it. In my dream, I could not clearly remember what vehicle I was driving and it was frustrating me that if I had to call the cops, I would not even be clear on what I was driving.

The assholes saw me in the parking lot and the skinny guy said "That van is all the way to Iowa by now, HAHAHA. Youre never gonna see THAT one again."

So I got out of their view and someone gave me a phone. I knew it was time to call 911.

I dialed 911 and got a water softening company. I hung up and dialed 911 again, and got put on hold with a radio talk show. On the third call I got thru, and began to tell the cop my problem...he just kept telling me to calm down, while he was laughing his ass off. I told him they stole my van and he kept laughing.

This is where the dream went blurry with the different endings. I never remember seeing cops..I do remember fighting, I remember a scenario with me killing everyone with an assault rifle, I remember being killed myself, I even had a scenario where I killed myself because of the frustration, and losing all my equipment.

In the middle of one of these scenarios is when I woke up this morning.

Just a weird dream, LOL!

Checking in with the outside world...

Checking in with the outside world...

Current mood:restless

It has seemingly been forever since I blogged anything. Figured I would make up for it by posting a little sumptin sumptin tonight.

It is Bike Week this week in Daytona and surrounding areas. That gives me a few nights off. I have been using my days to get some errands done and catch up with some friends I have not seen lately, then making myself available at home...but as American Idol is on and I have no interest in that, and Samantha is staying here with the baby for a few days, I am kind of in my office with my Mickeys Malt Liquor, and doing some computer stuff.

Car update...took the car to the mechanic for him to make everything right with the world, then sold the car to a neighbor who needed a good deal on a car. No more headache for me...all vans and cars that need to be sold, are. Now just hoping I dont have to repo a car I am holding a note on for someone...that is something I dont want to have to deal with. While I am off I emptied my van and had it detailed inside and out so it is nice and crisp and clean for me to return to work in. That was todays activity.

Speaking of good CARma, long story short, I was in a small town yesterday and did a rolling stop at a stop sign. Got around the corner and saw the cop...now this cop is sitting in the middle of nowhere, a block off the beaten path, and a block from the busiest intersection in town...simply waiting for everyone to roll thru this stopsign. I had a few hundred feet on him and I turned into a convenience store lot to elude him. There was an identical van to mine parked there, so I parked right next to it...dead identical, right down to the metal bulkhead divider and all... I was out of the cops sight for 10 seconds or more, so he could not say a word because he had no way of knowing which van and driver rolled the sign, LOL! What a sigh of relief to see him just keep going. Went around the block after leaving and he was right back in the same perch again. I was cautious to come to a complete stop though, LOL!

Finished up arrangements this week to go to Virginia in April. Leaving the 27th and coming back the 30th. Meeting some online karaoke friends there to sing, eat, talk shop and generally BS. People are coming from all over the world to meet there...as far away as England, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and all points in the US. Will be a nice break from the usual, and it will be good to see some old friends again, and some for the first time in person!

Also looking forward to my friend Nilsson to arrive from England in late March to early April for a stay. Glad our trips did not coincide.

Been trying to find time for a bonfire but with my schedule I have not been able to make that work. I have a pretty good pile going for the next one though.

All for now I do suppose...more as life develops. Hasta la bye bye.