Tag: Family

Birthday Delay?

My 50th birthday is in less than one month. I was planning on buying myself a present. I was going to take my Les Paul to an actual luthier and have the neck worked on. At the minimum I would have the frets dressed and the one inlay that’s starting to pull off fixed. More likely I would have the inlay fixed and the frets (gasp) replaced. I was also thinking about new pickups and having all of the wiring replaced. I was also also thinking about doing all of the same work to my ES-335.

Now… Maybe I should retire the Les Paul (the ES-335 is already retired) and, when the band starts rehearsing again, just play my SG. It’s still practically new. It won’t need any work for a while (knock on wood) so just play the SG all the time. I’d still need a backup for gigs so if we ever have another gig (in the post-Covid world that question is still unanswered) I could trade my strat for a cheap, used Les Paul Junior or something. Juniors from the mid-20-teens seem to be reselling for cheap. I could maybe do a straight up trade.

The reason is college. Mostly, at least. We’re about to have two college students and I don’t want to spend what little money is left after tuition on something that isn’t 100% necessary. New frets on a 43 year old guitar are a luxury that can wait until after the kids graduate. College is expensive. Two colleges… that’s really expensive. There’s just nothing left over. That’s not a complaint, of course, college is worth every penny. It just means that come 2025 or 2026, my Les Paul is going to have some major league work done. I’m talking Hollywood actor after the first time he loses a gig to a 22 year old up and comer level work done.

14 Years

14 Years ago today I went on a first date with a fantastic woman. Her name was Jen. Still is. She has a new last name now though. Funny, it’s the same last name I have. In fact, you might say that it’s my last name. As in we went on a date on April 5, 2007 and then at some later point something happened and she took my last name as her own. Like on May 30, 2009 something happened where we vowed to share our lives together or something like that.

Happy first dateiversary to the love of my life, Jennifer. 14 years and I’m still crazy about you.

The Sunday Night Movie: Addendum

Jen, my love, just commented that Harry Potter #5 was the first movie we saw together on a date. Also, tomorrow is the 14th anniversary of our first date. We didn’t actually go to the movies on our first date, but the connection is solid none the less.

14 years tomorrow and I’m still nuts about her.

Reminiscing

My wife and I were just reminiscing about the time when my now 18 year old step son was four years old and I was at their apartment at bed time for the first time and he taught me how the light switch in his bedroom worked.

(Click) lights on.

(Click) lights off.

It was the single most adorable thing that’s ever happened.

New Week, New Attitude

It’s Monday. The first day of a new week. Yippee. The 52nd week of Covid shut down. Last week had a nasty work issue. This week is likely going to have another. Still, I have made a decision.

I have decided that this week is going to be better. Granted, every week since late January has been pretty crappy, but this week is going to be better.

The bed is made, the dishes are done (except for the caste iron skillet, I have to do that again), the cat is fed, I’m 3/4 of the way through last night’s Walking Dead (Dog, the early years), Harry just found a playlist with the theme songs from all of the episodes of WandaVision. Today is International Women’s Day and my wife and my step daughter are shining examples of intelligent, strong, powerful women who deserve to be celebrated every day of the year not just today, but given the situation I will celebrate them like crazy today.

This week is going to be better. New week, new attitude.

Granted, it’ll probably go to shit as soon as I punch into work, or try to scoop the kitty litter, or something. For now though… This will be a good week.

Vaccine FOMO?

I spent a good chunk of this morning going through nearly every vaccine distribution center in Massachusetts trying to luck into booking someone else’s cancelation. No dice.

Is it possible that part of my frustration at not being vaccinated yet can be chalked up to FOMO? The Fear of Missing Out?

No. No, it can’t. Not getting an invite to the Dispo app is FOMO (even though the entire concept of that app is flat out dumb, I still want in damn it, let me in!), but not getting vaccinated is not. The frustration over not getting a vaccine appointment is due to not having a vaccine appointment. That’s all, folks.

Jen is working today and Harry is at his dad’s so I am on my own. I’ll think of a cleaning project to do for a while then I’ll mess with my amplifiers. I said Jen is working, but the cat just ran into this room and Jen followed. Sometimes the cat gets into “Timmy’s stuck in the well” mode and makes us follow her places. It almost always ends on the bed where she just wants us to focus all of our attention on petting her. Our cat is both smart and powerful.

I am also trying to cheer myself up over my lack of a vaccination appointment by listening to Rush. Clockwork Angels, to be exact. Allow me to say that “Seven Cities of Gold” is possibly the best song ever recorded. The music annoyed the cat enough that she left the room (and allowed Jen to leave as well) but to me it’s pretty much the pinnacle of human accomplishment. I mean, that and the moon landing, but mostly Rush.

Okay, now that “Seven Cities of Gold” has finished, I’m listening to “The Wreckers” and I need to correct myself. “The Wreckers” is the high point of human accomplishment. There, fixed that.

A Pretty Good Sunday

Things that were good today, not in order of importance:

  • I finished this year’s RPM Challenge
  • The Bruins beat the Rangers
  • We got a new waffle iron and it made some really good waffles.
  • Also in food news, Jen made a roast tonight and it was scary how good it was.
  • The Red Sox played their first Sprint training game. Sure, they lost to the Twinkies, but the important thing is that they played.
  • The Walking Dead came back.
  • My father, who went into the hospital on January 29th, came home. I mean, he’s going back in on Wednesday but the point is he finally came home. My father went home today!

Stressful Day Ahead

I knew today was going to be stressful. Lots of meetings, lots of important imminent deadline kind of things. Work was going to be busy. Then last night the hospital asked to have a call with all of us at some point today to review the next steps for my father. They will let us know when. So all of my stress-filled plans are in flux so that I can join a call that will likely cause my stress level to increase exponentially.

It’s going to be a rough one today. Next week, when things actually happen at the hospital, is going to be worse but I’ll hurl myself off that stress inducing bridge when I come to it.

Yippee.

Dental/Cardiac Relationship

Did you know that your dental health is a factor in your heart health? I sure didn’t. My father found out today when they took out some of his teeth in preparation for upcoming heart surgery. Who knew?

Subject change: Rush Limbaugh died. When I was a kid I was taught that if you don’t have anything nice to say you shouldn’t say anything at all. So there you go.

Subject change: We got the expected date of my step son’s high school graduation ceremony. Mid June. Please, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, get all of us our respective Covid-19 vaccinations by then. Please, Covid-19, don’t ruin this for him on top of everything else.

Subject change: I had a really crummy nights sleep last night. I went to bed about 10:30, woke up a little before midnight, and didn’t get back to sleep until after 2:00. Today is shaping up to be a rough one. I need a nap. A long nap.

Subject change: I’ve got nothing else to say right now. I read this morning that we’re supposed to get another snow storm later tomorrow. I want Spring. Now. I want my whole extended family, including everyone in my step kids’ other house, to get their vaccine shots. Now. I’m tired of all of this crap. I want my father’s medical ordeal to end. Now. I want everything to go back to pre-March 2020 normal. Now.