Tag: to do list

Let’s Try Again

The sun comes up at 5:11 tomorrow morning. The forecast, via the epic Weather Kitty app, predicts that the skies above Methuen will be clear and sunny.

Let’s try that playing with Dad’s camera in the morning before work thing again. Please Please Please let nothing go wrong. If anything does go wrong I will literally cry in my protein shake.

So photography nerd in the morning followed by a half day at work followed by a doctor’s appointment followed by (maybe) a trip to a music store to investigate trading in my Fender followed by visiting my mother followed by dinner with my love. That’s the plan.

Liquid Lunch

It’s almost 2:00pm and I am just getting to lunch now. When I say lunch, of course, I mean liquid lunch. I just had me a protein shake. Yummy. Will it still be yummy after tomorrow? Who the hell knows!

3.5 hours left in my work day and then I go on leave for a month. I am having a tough time wrapping my brain around that. A whole month away from work is just… weird.

It’s really loud in my yard right now. There’s a huge ass riding lawn mower tearing around like a madman. I forgot we booked a lawn service this year. It’s a good thing because we kinda don’t have a lawn mower of our own at the moment, and for the next month or so I am going to be no good to anyone.

The Bruins lost game one last night. Game two is tomorrow. I am guessing I won’t be terribly interested in watching. You know, other stuff going on.

Still no phone call telling me when to show up tomorrow. They said to expect the call between 3:00 and 8:00pm, so I am not worried… yet.

When am I going to be able to watch MoonKnight tomorrow? Do you think Disney+ will let me see it today? No? Even if I ask Mickey Mouse directly? No? Aww.

Musiciansfriend is going to deliver a new delay pedal tomorrow. I don’t expect to be able to play through it right away. You know how it is, right?

My wife Jennifer is my rock. I just wanted to share that. I couldn’t do any of this without her. She’s amazing and I am so in love with her.

What else… I don’t know. I am sure I had a reason to start typing this and I am equally sure that nothing I’ve written here has anything to do with whatever that reason was. I know that, even though I really don’t know what the reason I started this actually is. My 51st birthday is this weekend. I’d tell you all not to get old, but the alternative is really a lot worse so I won’t.

To do list for tonight:

  • Put gas in the car.
  • Clear a path in the cellar storage to the furnace. It’s getting a check up or something next week and I won’t be able to lift half of the stuff that’s in the way post-surgery.
  • Change the litter box.
  • Tell Jennifer how much I love her.
  • Text the kids and tell them how much I love them.
  • Call my parents.
  • Text my brother and sister.
  • Drink a protein shake for dinner.
  • Put away the laundry that I washed and dried yesterday.
  • Pack a bag.

My friends Larry and Mike have already gotten in touch. I got a text from Larry this morning wishing me luck. Last night I got a call from Mike. He’s been through this already and he gave me some advice for the recovery.

They told me not to wear any jewelry tomorrow. That means no wedding ring and no watch. I’m not sure what to do with my glasses. Maybe I’ll bring the case and ask Jen to hold on to them for me.

I’m not freaking out. Not really. I think I just want it to be over with so I can move on to the next stage. As scary as all of this is, it’s a good thing and I will have no regrets.

Okay, back to work for the home stretch.

Saturday

I have been on vacation for the past week. A staycation in fact. I spent the entire week off thinking that each day was Saturday. I would look at the Bruins game schedule and be surprised that they weren’t playing Arizona (because they are scheduled to play Arizona on Saturday, get it?). I would spend each day reminding myself to not miss The Walking Dead tomorrow, (because The Walking Dead airs on Sunday and I thought it was Saturday, get it?)

It’s finally Saturday. Well, finally is the wrong word because that implies I was impatient for it to get here and that, by extension, implies that I was impatient for my week off of work to end. I most definitely was not. I just mean that after spending the week thinking it was Saturday, it actually is Saturday. The Walking Dead airs tomorrow. The Bruins play the Coyotes tonight. Also, I woke up 100% convinced it was Sunday. My internal calendar is a dick.

Anyway, no issues with the CPAP machine last night. More circumstantial (is that the right word here?) evidence that when masks start having problems staying sealed it’s time to get a new mask. Duly noted.

I just had my protein shake and my first dose of vitamins. I didn’t miss a dose yesterday, which is good, though I did forget to take them around dinner time and ended up taking the last dose at nearly 9:00pm. I hope that’s not a bad thing. It’s just vitamins, right? It’s not like I am taking a narcotic or something. I’ll check with the dietician the next time I talk to her.

I have two things on my to-do list for today. There are a bunch of boxes in the dining room that need to be chopped up and removed. Also, the Kia needs an oil change. We’re taking my step son Harry back to school tomorrow so the car is going to get around seven hours of road time and I just want it to be in tip top oil shape, you know?

What else? I haven’t played my guitar once during the whole week off. That makes me sad, but I was legitimately wrapped up in other stuff. We really hadn’t planned on any of the things we did this week, but we ended up being seriously busy the whole time. It was good. I am very happy with this particular staycation. I just should have played the guitar some.

I am starting to get back into thinking about bringing my two 1970’s guitars to a tech for some work. They both need their frets checked out and possibly (hopefully not) replaced. I don’t want to do that, but I will if I have to. Those two gitters need to live forever. I want to have the wiring and the pots replaced on both of them as well. I want to go with 50’s style wiring (that has something to do with how the volume and tone pots are wired together. I think it’s the output from the volume connects to the input of the tone? Something like that?) That changes the way the two knobs interact, and it eliminates the drop in high frequency response when you lower the volume knob. I guess it also means it’s possible to increase the volume with the tone knob, which is weird, but I’ll get used to it quick. I also want to put new pickups into the Les Paul Custom (not the ES-335, those pickups will stay in forever). I just don’t know what to get. I want to go boutique and cork sniffy and I want to get as close to late 1950’s Gibson PAFs (patent applied for) pickups as I can. I also don’t know where to go for any of this. I have one shop in mind, in Andover, MA, but I haven’t decided. Someday soon I’ll start this ball rolling. After the kitchen fun is over with.

Okay, gotta go tear up some boxes and get an oil change. Your humble blog narrator will talk to you later, oh my readers and only friends.

Looking Ahead

It’s the end of my lunch break on Friday. I’m looking ahead to the weekend. What’s going on?

We have a problem in our kitchen and someone is coming over to take a look and maybe give an estimate. We will all be masked and distanced and I really hate having people invade our Covid bubble but what can you do. After that I am going to bring some groceries over to my parents. Again, masks and distance. Outside of that?

One song needs rhythm guitars. 11 songs need lead guitars. One song is ready for vocals. At least six songs do not exist and need to start existing.

Other than that? I heard snow could be a thing this weekend. I choose to ignore that as even the slightest possibility. No thank you. The yard was covered with snow when I left the house yesterday morning. By the time I got home it was all gone. All of it. This morning I saw the temperature reach 60 degrees. It’s now 37 and dropping like a stone. Cold in February sucks, but it’s better than cold and snow. No snow. Pretty please with sugar on top.

Oh yeah, one other insignificant thing. The Walking Dead comes back on Sunday night. To paraphrase Adam Sandler (actually, more like steal a lyric from Adam Sandler), Zombies for me. Zombies for you. Like to kill zombies in an old brown shoe.

I am so ready for some weekend right now. So ready.

Another Miss

Another missed car music opportunity today. I actually have time to go, I just don’t want to. I’m more focused on my weight loss surgery non-appointment. I thought it was at Lowell General Hospital, but it’s actually in Chelmsford. No worries. I have the address, I just didn’t look at it before. Fear, ya know?

I don’t know the timeline for this process. In my tiny little brain I assumed it was about a year. I hope it’s at least a little less than that. Jen thought she heard it was about six months. That would be okay with me. With fingers crossed and knocking on all of the wood I say that we are hoping the pandemic will let us to go Disney World next January. I need to either be through the surgery and recovered and back on my feet again by then, or I need to hold off until we get back.

There is also the question of whether or not the pandemic bitch will cause the hospital to stop doing elective surgery. I know some hospitals are in that boat right now. Hopefully that doesn’t become an issue.

Sorry for all of these posts. It’s just kind of what’s on my mind right now. I’m hoping we’ll get through it together, right?

Planning for Tomorrow

  • Car music. I didn’t do it today because I over slept a little.
  • Re-pot the plants in the bedroom.
  • Does Harry need help packing?
  • Watch Eternals.
  • Play the Harry Potter version of Munchkin.
  • Maybe play the new Star Wars version of Monopoly again.

Mostly the plan is to hang out with Harry on the last day before he goes back to school.

Tomorrow’s To-Do List

Tomorrow’s to-do list is pretty simple.

  • Car music. The first of 2022
  • Help Jen make breakfast
  • Help Bellana with any pre-Europe tasks that she may need help with.
  • Laundry, I think. I ripped a pair of jeans on Friday. I’m down to two. I had to order more. I ordered some new shirts too. Hmm, does rush.com’s store have anything in my size?
  • Jen and Bellana are planning on cooking dinner together. Help them if they need help.
  • Play the guitar.

That’s a pretty attainable set of goals for a Sunday, right?

One Down, Two to Go

What do I have to accomplish this week?

I need to cook dinner tonight. I’ve got one or two gifts to wrap. We need to figure out a Covid safe way to see Spider-Man. I need to bring the Christmas gifts we got for my niece and nephews to them. Not sure how/when that can happen. We never cleared the snow off the cars on Saturday and now they are covered in blocks of ice. We need to figure out what we are going to eat on Christmas Eve. We need to get Bellana home (though really she’s taking care of that one), I still have some tunes to finish, we have to make sure the kids are all set with their Christmas shopping, we have to not catch covid (omicron persei 8).

Yeah, that’s a start on a to do list.

Damn.

What is Up Tomorrow

Tomorrow is going to be a weird day. I’m nearly done with the work task I mentioned before that I really wanted off my plate on Monday. I need to wrap that up and send it off, then go to a couple of meetings and then BAM! Half day. Yeah, I took the afternoon off for no good reason at all.

The only definite item on my post-work agenda is cooking dinner. Outside of that? No idea. I’d like to do some music. I have two songs ready to mix. If I can sneak out for some car music before work I might have some leads to record too. That’s a big if though.

There is a new Hawkeye episode tomorrow. Hopefully we can set up a watch party with Harry and all watch it together. We will see.

Based on what I’ve written so far I’m sure the question burning a hole in your very soul right now is, what am I cooking for dinner?

I’ll end this post with the life affirming, world rocking answer:

Spaghetti and meatballs. Awww yeah.

Almost There

The work day is more than half way done. Just a few hours to go until the weekend. Solving the equation and making use of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity shows us that a five day week that follows a four day weekend that followed a three day week is going to feel like a 20 day week. Do the math. It totally checks out.

After this impossibly long work week, the weekend shines like a beacon in a dark and stormy night. There are a lot of things I want to do this weekend. Christmas lights, a little cleaning at my parents house, cleaning up the post-decorating mess we left in the living room, and music music and more music.

There may be an alternate plan though. One inspired by the love of my life. This morning, I got out of bed a few minutes before she did. When I got up, the cat immediately took my place. Actually, she was on the bed before I got up, sort of willing me to piss off and leave so she could be alone with Jen. As I was starting to make the long journey to the bathroom Jen told the cat that she was just going to spend the entire day in bed. She wasn’t going to get up at all.

Now THAT is a plan!

I could not live that particular dream today, but tomorrow? And Sunday?

Bring it on!

Thanks, Jen! I love you!!!