Category: Generic

ATM Blues

So I don’t have an ATM card anymore. Allow me to explain.

I got a message from Mike the Bass Player saying that the Girl Scout cookies were in. I owe his daughter $16. I took out my wallet and there was only $14. Well, on my way over to band practice I’ll just stop at an ATM and get a 20. Easy enough, right?

There’s a Bank of America kiosk thingie near us with two ATMs. I went there. There was a woman using the machine on the right, so I went to the machine on the left. It didn’t work. Sigh in frustration. When the woman next to me finished I tried that machine. I put my card in. It went half way in and got stuck. I grabbed it and tried to pull it back out. It wouldn’t budge. After a second or two of trying it got sucked into the machine. It paused for a second… and then… did nothing. The machine ate my card.

I called the 800 number to ask how I should get my card back. It asked for my account number. Are you. Friggin’. Kidding me? I spent 10 minutes getting run around their god damned voice mail system before being told… you’re gonna love this one… that they were closed.

You. Sonofa…

I had to call my bank and cancel my card. They’ll mail me a new one. In a week. Sonofa!!!

Band Practice

We had our first band practice in a month tonight. Amazingly, I managed to get through most of the songs without too many disasters. Well… mostly.

I did have a difficulty though. Let’s flashback a few years.

It’s 1990 and I’m in my first year in music school. My band from high school, Tempest Fero, is still together. We were playing at a CYO dance in Tewksbury. While covering an 80’s Rainbow song my left hand started to cramp. That happened now and then, but it was never so bad as that moment. My middle and ring fingers needed to bend in order to fret an A-minor chord in the open position but they simply would not do it. They got part of the way, but I could not press the strings down onto the fretboard. It was very disconcerting. I did my best to invert some chords and play others in different positions. I was really worried about the situation. I can’t remember exactly what I did when the song ended, but I probably walked toward the back of the stage and pretended to fiddle with my amplifier. Just to give my hand a moment to rest. The next song lived in a different part of the guitar neck and I was able to get through. In fact I made it through the rest of the gig without any more problems. Over the years I have had similar pains, mostly when songs center around the second fret. There were moments on stage with Break Even where I preemptively changed positions because the pain was increasing. It could get bad, but I never froze on a song the way I did that night.

Until tonight.

The pain started in my right hand this time as I was strumming hard but after one song it was okay. Then during the second or third song the left hand flared up. It was bad from then on, but not debilitation. Then on the second to last song we played I was unable to fret an open G. My fingers shaped it, but I couldn’t press down.

Does that scare me a little?

Oh yes, it most certainly does.

RPM Song #9

Let’s take stock of the ol’ RPM Challenge, shall we?

The goal is 10 songs or 35 minutes of music. Right.

I currently stand at 9 songs and 34:41.

SONOFA!! 19 seconds short!

I have four more songs in progress. None of which have lyrics yet. That’s the sticking point right there now isn’t it.

I’ll have before work time on Tuesday. On Wednesday I took a vacation day, but the kids are on school vacation so I will only have a couple of hours in the morning before I go get them at their dads. Thursday is telecommute day, but the kids will be home. If I can’t get the rest of the songs tracked (including one more that hasn’t even been started yet) by the early afternoon on Wednesday then FAWM is a bust. I need 14 songs to finish that one. RPM looks good. One more lyric/vocal and it’s done, and I can do that Tuesday morning. After getting the kids on Wednesday the plan will be to mix whatever is left. I suppose if I’m close to 14 I could always sit in the car and sing. Maybe drive to some empty parking lot somewhere.

Song Number Eight

Eight down, six to go. One of those six is ready to mix (I think) and two don’t exist at all yet. Things ain’t looking good for FAWM, but the RPM Challenge is looking nice and rosy.

Song Number Seven

I started noodling out this little rocker this morning after going grocery shopping. The lyrics were recorded while sitting in the car outside of my step son’s guitar lesson. Later, after going to my nephew’s 4th birthday party, I recorded the guitars. Then after a break for some TV time I mixed it.

Not that good, but it’s there.

So Far So Good… Still

Got out of bed a little while ago and checked the window. Nice and dry. It’s been 24 hours since anyone witnessed a drip. That’s very good. Unfortunately we’re in line to get another small snow storm. They are saying 3-5 inches, which given this month is little more than a flurry. Hell, it’s practically a summer day! That being said, it still adds weight and moisture to the roof. Two things we don’t want. Tomorrow the weather is supposed to get a little warmer and we might get rain. That’s concerning. While the warm and rain will wash away what’s left of the snow, and hopefully some of the ice dam, it won’t get it all. The amount of weight and water up there will increase quite a bit. I’m not quite ready to call this a win yet. Let’s see how things look on Monday.

Fingers Crossed for Continued Good Luck

It’s 10:42pm. There hasn’t been a drop of water through our picture window since about 9:00am. Not being a carpenter, I don’t know if it’s due to the cold outside or the lack of snow on the roof (thanks to the two guys who shoveled) or some other factor. I really don’t care. I’m just thankful as all hell that the leak has stopped at least for now.

Fingers crossed for continued good luck.