Category: Uncategorized

Thank You, Bruins

If the price of the Red Sox winning the World Series is that the Bruins have to suck for a while, then I’ll pay that price. Now that the parade is over though, it’s time for the sucking to end.

While I still have not recovered from the Stanley Cup Finals game six choke, I am ready to start loving hockey again. I’ve been there since the puck dropped in the opening game, but the Sox did distract me.

The Bruins have been crap-tastic for a couple of weeks now. This is the team that went to the Finals last year, and they are sucking up the joint against the Islanders and the Stars? No, enough. That needs to end.

Fortunately, last night was a step in the right direction. I was following the game, but I only managed to listen to the first period. It was scoreless after one, so I was afraid it might end up as more of the same. They were playing Florida whose suck level is so high it is incalculable. Turns out the B’s were just teasing me. They took the lead in the second period and then went for the Panthers’ throat in the third and put it all away.

Thank you, Boston Bruins. Thank you for playing like you meant it last night. Now keep up the good work!

Go Bruins!

Terrible Time Management

Last February there was a very important change to my daily routine that more or less allowed me to finish the RPM Challenge. Telecommuting. I worked from home on Thursdays. That allowed me to do a hefty chunk of musical work before work in the morning, and then during my lunch break. There were other contributing factors too, but Thursdays at home was a big part of finishing on time.

Now that I am trying another album-in-a-month deal I have the added benefit of telecommuting two days a week (for now at least), Mondays and Thursdays. This week I didn’t do anything musical on Monday morning before work (I watched the previous night’s episode of The Walking Dead instead. Priorities, man) but I did spend my lunch break working on a rhythm guitar part.

How about today? How’d I do?

Well this morning before work I sat on my fat ass on the couch eating Coca Puffs and watching Futurama on Netflix. At lunch time, I drove to Burger King because my ass obviously isn’t fat enough.

When it comes to music in November, my time management skills just plain blow.

On the upside, I did a little work on my iPad last night. It’s probably going to be short, the tempo is pretty fast, and I don’t know where I’m going to work the 12-string into it, but it’s a new work in progress. I can’t tell how many I have going now. At least three. Well, two if I take two of the three and stitch them together. There are other things, but I haven’t looked at them in about five days. So let’s say two actual works in progress. Pretty crappy progress, but still more than I had done on 11/30/12, right?

Mounting Frustration

It’s the traffic again, of course.

It’s been a little more than two months since my work group moved from Framingham to Westwood and I am so fed up with it. To get to Framingham I was leaving home at 7:50. Westwood is closer, but if I am lucky I get to leave at 7:20. This morning my beloved wife Jen left home at 5:55. I shit you not, 5:55. She called me at 6:30. She’d made it one exit down route 93 South. Maybe a mile or two. I sped up my morning routine, skipped breakfast, and headed off to work at 6:58. I managed to avoid the traffic on route 93, but I hit some on route 495 and then somewhat heavier than usual traffic on both route 3 and route 128. I made it to work in a touch more than 90 minutes. It pains me to say this, but 90 minutes isn’t bad. 44 miles and I am pleased with 90 minutes. It’s ridiculous. It’s insulting. It’s affecting my personality.

By the time I get to work in the morning I am furious. By the time I get home, and I must admit that the drives home are not nearly as bad as the drives in although they are still pretty awful, I am just beaten down. I’m exhausted. Last week my step son asked me to help him hang a poster in his room. I was so beat I almost said no. Can you believe that? I was too worn out from the day to push four friggin’ thumb tacks into his wall. Yesterday the polls in Methuen were open from 7:00am to 7:00pm. I couldn’t go before work because the traffic was so bad. I had to go after work, and despite leaving work at 5:30 I almost didn’t make it in time. I got to the poll at about 6:45. How happy would I have been if the traffic was just a little worse and I missed my chance to vote? Not happy. Not happy at all.

I’m sorry to keep venting about this to you, internet. I just need to get it off my chest. Unloading should make me feel better. It doesn’t.

Pressure

You don’t see this every day.

I heard some noise outside of the house this morning (don’t I always when working from home?) so I took a look outside. There was a dude messing with the fire hydrant in front of our yard. He opened it up and hooked up some kind of gauges. I wonder if he was checking the water pressure.

Interesting.

Untitled

Holy Crap That Hurt

I spent a chunk of my lunch hour playing the new 12-string. I overdubbed one rhythm guitar part onto one of the songs in progress and DAMN did my hand hurt. It was brutal. I am so ridiculously out of playing shape. Hopefully by the end of this stupid thing I’ll be in better shape to start worrying about February.