Rocker Guy Ramblings

Get Back to Where You Once Belong

2009-07-19T19:05:00.007-05:00

We're back!

Holy cow what a week. There was rain, there was sun, there was lots of walking! I could tell you all about the things that happened but it would take hours and this post would be incredibly long! So here are some of the big highlights.

Weather was cold (like in the 50's) with rain the first couple of days. Put a little damper on things but we perservered. By Wednesday it warmed up into the 70's. Still some rain, but Wednesday was clear and rain free all day!

The boys were busy with merit badge classes, but I still got to do some great things with them. We went boating. Christopher and I did kayaking and I took Grasshopper out in a rowboat since he was not qualified as a full swimmer to go in canoe's or kayaks. I took a 50 minute bike ride with Christopher through the dirt roads and woods and we had a total blast! I gave him a run for his money let me tell you! The three of us did some fishing. Didn't catch anything, though. I climbed the 30 foot climbing wall along with Christopher. I also made it more than 3/4 away across the sky walk, which was monkey swings spaced far apart about 30 feet above the ground. Yes, I was doing crazy stuff and having a hell of a time doing it. We had campfires, great food, stomping on tables and generally being loud. There were a few downers on the week, but nothing that doesn't make me want to go back next year. It felt like a real vacation not to have to worry about anything in the real world for 7 days.

Here's a couple of pictures of our adventures. We can't wait to go back next year.

Grasshopper fishing.

Christopher on the climbing wall.

Me on the Sky Walk (of Death!)

The boys!

I'm Outta Here

2009-07-11T18:21:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow the boys and I are off to Boy Scout camp. We're getting up a 0 dark 30 (about 5 am) to be on the road by 6. I'll be back next Saturday and completely out of touch with the digital world until then. I'll get pictures and stories up when I get back.

In the meantime, you guys be good and play nice while I'm gone. Don't make me pull the internet off to the side of the road!

Small Victories

2009-07-09T19:54:00.001-05:00

Today's a day for little things. Like my boss backing me up on a personnel matter with HR (not related to me directly, of course), having one of my guys go off on my about a change at work as if we've got no plan and not following process and then showing him that indeed, I have all the bases covered (shame on those of little faith), getting the lawn mowed before leaving for boy scout camp, getting started on the packing for summer camp, seeing the Wife go for a ride on her new bike (and really enjoying it).

You gotta take those good moments when you can get them and just enjoy them. So let's all raise a glass of our favorite beverage of choice and toast those rare blissful moments.

Cheers.

The Beat Goes on

2009-07-07T11:53:00.002-05:00

Last night was the band's second practice since our singer "officially" moved on. The first one was last week. I don't know how it was for the rest of the band, but that first practice without her sucked. I was not feeling it at all, played like shit, and couldn't care less what we were doing. Perhaps the loss sank in. Perhaps I was just having a bad day. Either way I don't think practice went well.

Last night was a lot better. I was feeling it again with the band. It's different, are arrangements are changing, but it's ok. Our bass player actually sang some parts in a song and she sounded really good! It's amazing the difference having 4 voices makes. And I heard the stirrings of some really good vocals. Like if we work on it, there could be songs where the hairs stand up on end when we play them.

As in everything in life, change is constant. Sometimes you need to accept and move on. But I still miss having her there.

Happy 4th Weekend

2009-07-05T18:59:00.004-05:00

Hope everyone had a great weekend. We did lots of stuff and had a relaxing time. Friday was, as the Wife put it "get some shit done day". We had a new storm door put on our front door. We didn't have one before so now we can get lots of light and keep the front door open! Buddy thinks it's great to be able to look out on the world. We also got Grasshopper a new set of frames for his glasses and picked up some additional gear for scout camp next week.

Yesterday we got strawberries for canning. Ellen makes jam every year and this year we ran out of time and the weather was too rainy to pick them like we normally do so we just got some from the farmer's market. We also spent the day at her niece's place. It's on a creek in the sticks so we had a great time. The boys did some fishing and we basically hung out with family. Her niece's husband and her nephew both are in the bicycling industry and she's in the market for a nice bike to ride the trails on the canal in this area. So we got some good advice. We capped off the evening with local fireworks which was nice, although by then I was getting a little pooped and just wanted to go to bed. I know, I'm getting old.

Today we went to the bike shop where her niece's husband works and she tried out some bikes. The shop is right on the canal so we brought our bikes and she tried one out and we took about a 4 mile spin on the canal to get a feel for it. So we're going to go ahead and get her a bike. We're turning into a biking family it seems so we're going to try and get out and bike the path's more on the weekends through the summer. We're enjoying getting out of the house and doing things more, especially when the weather cooperates as it did today. We finished off the day by canning the strawberries and making jam and then after dinner sitting on our porch enjoying the cool evening. It got pretty hot in that kitchen, and not just because Ellen was in it!

Basically this weekend has been all family related stuff and no (or little) stress. Just the right kind. Hope everyone out there had as fun a weekend as we did.

Not The Mama - Updated

2009-06-30T19:16:00.003-05:00

I had intended to post about the stupid driver I encountered on the New York State Thruway coming back from an off site meeting today, but this stuff is better.

First, I was planning on going rollerblading today after dropping Grasshopper off at karate. The rain's been on and off and we had a break of sun and perfect temps to rollerblade. Clouds were moving in but I thought I had time. However, I hit EVERY red light on the way home. Then I had to take care of a thing or two and get changed when I got home. I grabbed my stuff, sat on the porch and started putting on my pads when it started sprinkling. Not wanting to blade in the rain, I hit the treadmill instead. When I was done with my 30 minutes, it was POURING outside. It appears the good Lord put some obstacles in my way to keep my safe and dry. Awfully kind of Him. That's why we're such tight pals.

Second, and more important, I have to give the Wife the Supermom of the Year award for duty above and beyond to her child(ren). Maverick (who I think is old enough by now to call by his real name, Christopher), has been at wrestling camp at the state college about 20 minutes from our house since Saturday. We decided to have him commute instead of staying on campus as it's his first time at a camp like this. This has required the Wife (Ellen for those keeping track), to shuttle him out for registration, home for dinner, and back for evening session on Saturday, take him out there on Sunday, home for dinner, and back again for evening session, pick him up yesterday at the end of the day, and the plan for today was to pick him up at the end of the session (note the number of trips, 20 minutes there and back each time people).

So today, she's pretty whipped. And looking forward to relaxing a little before having to pick him up at 9. We decided to spring for lunch and dinner today and have him stay the whole day so she only had to pick him up at the end. As a clarifier, my nephews are attending the same camp so I've been dropping them off at my sister's house in the morning and she's taking the three of them out.

Anyway, Christopher calls home from his cell about 7:30. He asks if the Wife has left yet. The answer was no, she was planning on being there at 9 pm. So he asks to talk to her. There's a tournament tonight, he hasn't wrestled yet, and wants Ellen to come watch him wrestle. She's JUST gotten comfortable in her chair to FINALLY get some rest. So what does she do?

That's right. She gets up, grabs her stuff and a camera, and heads off to see the kid wrestle. So, ladies and gentlemen, this is why she is honored as Supermom of the Year. You may commence the wild cheering and raucus jubilation.

Update - I got a call from Christopher today. He placed 3rd in his weight class! He's very proud of himself.

Crazy Weekends

2009-06-28T18:15:00.002-05:00

It's been another of those crazy weekends, filled with sports and parties. This weekend was the Hot Dog Cup, the soccer tournament for the boy's summer league. Grasshopper participated with his team and they had some wild games. The first game the were down 4-0 early, but battled back and tied it up. It went back and forth until his team finally won 9-8. Talk about a nail biter! They finished the tournament 2-1-1. There was no championship game at their level so he got a participation trophy.

Maverick missed the tournament because he's at wrestling camp from Saturdy to Wednesday. The Wife got taxi duty on that one. Sessions go all the way to 9 pm. Luckily, my sister's boys are at the same camp so we're splitting carpooling duties to a certain extent. She's going to take the boys but her kids are staying all day while Maverick is missing the evening session on Monday due to a soccer game.

The Wife and I also attended a surprise 60th birthday party for her cousin last night. It was an impressive feat keeping it from him but he was completely surprised! We had a good time mingling with family. The home we were in was very nice and cozy, but a bit small for the approximately 30 people we had there. Still, there was plenty of snacks and refreshments so it went well.

The Wife is really looking forward to next weekend. We're going to her niece's place for the 4th and we haven't been to thier place since she moved back from South Carolina last year. As a matter of fact, the laptop I'm typing this on is being prepared to "donate" to her niece as we speak. I'm getting a newer model so I'm passing this down.

While it's been a busy weekend, there's been lots of fun as well, just no all together family kind of fun. Hopefully we'll get some of that next weekend. Hope everyone has a good week!

Built for Speed

2009-06-23T19:48:00.002-05:00

About a week ago I got myself new rollerblades as my old pair was totally hammered. The new ones fit great and I couldn't wait to try them on the road. The first time I tried them out, it seemed that I wasn't going very fast and working very hard. After I put a good 5 miles on them, I took them off and spun the wheels. They stopped very quickly. I compared them to my old skates, and the old ones spun FOREVER. No wonder I was working so hard!

Saturday I brought them back to the shop I purchased them and had them look at them to see if they could be adjusted. It turns out this pair had the lowest end bearings that come on skates. So I did the smart thing and had them upgrade the wheels to a set with better bearings. Not the best there are, since those only come on a larger wheel size.

Father's Day I got a chance to try out the upgraded blades. They were better, but not like my old pair. With the original wheels on my new blades, I barely picked up speed on a downhill. With the upgraded wheels, I pick up some speed. With my old blades, I'd be flying. The new blades are now good, but it feels like the difference between walking and running. However, I get a good workout so they'll do. With new wheels, I also get great grip and don't feel like my skates are going to slide out from under me in the turns.

On a more sombre note, one of the Wife's uncles passed away. She's at the wake tonight and going to the funeral tomorrow. Prayers and good wishes for her and her family are much appreciated.

Mission Accomplished

2009-06-19T13:15:00.002-05:00

I'm just now heading back home on the train from Schenectady. I spent an overnight there as part of my ongoing effort to be a better manager and actually meet with my staff more often. It was a productive trip. I got to work directly with my Schenectady staff and get some good face to face things done with my peers and counterparts.

However, the most successful part of the trip was last night. Some of my other Rochester compatriots were out here as well so we went out for dinner. They showed me one of the best Asian food places EVER! It was primarily Thai, though they had sushi as well (which I don't eat, but that's another story). The waitress was so good that she remembered what they drank and what the ordered the last time they were there. Which was Monday night. Which was the first time they'd ever eaten there. She was fabulous! And the meal I had was just heavenly. I know where I'm going to eat more often when I'm out there.

I also picked up a box of Italian pastries to bring home for the family. I've known of this place for a while but haven't visited there for a bit. For my treat, I got a chocolate canolli. It was a cannoli with chocolate filling AND dipped completely in chocolate. Can you see the angels and hear their heavenly hymn? It was that good.

Anyway, not much planned this weekend. If the weather is good Sunday, I'll probably do a round of golf as my Father's Day treat. Otherwise, the honeydo list awaits.

Passing the test

2009-06-17T11:35:00.003-05:00

It is written not to put the Lord, your God, to the test. However, it is not written to refrain from putting your boss to the test. After everything that's been going on, I was not sure I would get continued support for the company to reimburse me for graduate school classes. So last week, I sent the request in for fall semester, not sure what the result would be. Yesterday, I got an email from my boss telling me that I was not forgotten and that it was in process. This was the first time my boss had processed one of these requests and was making sure everything was in order before passing on to HR.

So it appears my boss passes. I take this to mean, at a minimum, my status has not gotten any worse, and perhaps has even improved slightly. I've recieved no additional negative feedback. However, I haven't recieved ANY feedback in a few weeks. Still, I'll assume no news is good news. I'm ever the optimist.

If I could but touch His clothes

2009-06-16T11:53:00.002-05:00

I was reading Mark chapter 5 again today and read the story of the woman afflicted with hemorrhages. Doctors couldn't cure her but she said to herself, "If I could only touch His clothes, I shall be healed."

Healing has always been a theme for me in my personal spiritual growth. When I first came back to my faith, it was for healing. Everything I tried to get from the world and do on my own never resulted in happiness. It was only through Jesus I felt healed. Whenever something major is distressing me, I look to the Lord for healing. There are times where I feel like I'm reaching for His cloak and not quite touching it. But you have to keep reaching.

So much goes on in every day life that doesn't really matter. A customer at work you need to approach carefully because they'll cause a fuss. An employee with poor job performance that doesn't seem to want to improve. A project that's behind schedule. The laundry piles up because the kids have sports 4 days a week. A tail light bulb needs to be replaced.

But then there's the person that's always wanted to be a dad finding out his girlfriend is pregnant and doesn't want the baby. And you can't do anything for them. Or struggling every morning to be pleasant to the rest of the house when you know some little thing might make you lose your cool.

So I keep praying for healing. Cause if I can only touch His cloak, just for a moment, I'll be healed.

Anti-Climactic

2009-06-15T22:10:00.002-05:00

We had a band meeting today to discuss with our singer her leaving the band. I thought it might be a major deal, but as it turned out, it really wasn't. Her original email telling the band she was leaving had some anger in it, mostly due to some mis-communication after our last gig. But what it really boiled down to was that she's running for town supervisor in our town and just doesn't have the time right now to devote to the band. She's either in 100% or 0%. We all understand and it's cool if she takes a break from the band. However, we left the door open for her to return whenever she's ready.

I put in my main 2 cents which was that when we have 4 voices together, including hers, the sound we get makes chills run down my spine. Even if we got another singer, it wouldn't be the same. Not to mention one of the things that makes a band is the people in it. I know from experience when you change the lineup, you change the band. Things won't be quite the same without her, but we'll keep on for now. Hopefully in the fall after the election she'll have time to be part of what we do. Until then, she has my support running for office.

Having G.A.S

2009-06-12T12:36:00.002-05:00

That would be Gear Acquisition Syndrome. This afternoon during luch I decided to walk to a very nice music store near work. They had a 6/12 string double neck guitar I wanted to check out. Not the high end $3000 Gibson, but the low end Epiphone version. It was OK. But a guitar has to blow me away out of the box to even get my attention. They did, however, have a very sweet Les Paul Custom with 3 pickups that was very nice. However, it wasn't $4250 nice.

My problem with gear lately is that the I only like the expensive stuff. And I'm too cheap to pay that much for it. So I do a lot of looking and playing but not much buying. Still, it's fun to play good instruments. I'm at an age as a musician where I know what I want and not to many instruments sound the way I like.

I'm sure the Wife is happy that I'm not bringing home more stuff.

Not Funny and Funny

2009-06-10T11:38:00.002-05:00

Two stories I'd like to relate. One I found sad and not funny, the other amused me. You figure out which.

I saw a teaser on the mid-day news that injuries as a result of computers in the home were up, especially among kids. My first thought was repetitive motion injuries, carpel tunnel, etc. The leading cause of computer related injuries? Nope. The injuries are a result of tripping over chords or having equipment falling on you. I'm sure the injury rate is similar to pet related injuries especially for those that own cats that are out to kill you like ours was. I swear she was trying to trip me intentionally when I walked down the stairs.

The second story concerns the NYS Senate. Democrats won control of that legistlative house in November after 40 years of Republican control. This week two Democrats changed parties giving control back to the Republicans. A Republican spokesman stated that now there can "finally" be "meaningful change" in Albany. It appears that the five months they spent in the minority allowed them to realize what they'd been doing wrong for the last 4 decades.

You decide.

Legion

2009-06-09T06:52:00.003-05:00

Since I was totally bummed yesterday concerning the news of a band member leaving, I did what I usually do, I broke out my Bible. I happened to open to Mark chapter 5 and started reading. It's the story of Jesus healing the demoniac at Gerasene possessed by so many demons they called themselves Legion.

Reading it made me realize I had my own demons that need to be excorcized. Not so many as Legion, but certainly anger and fear. Those two particular demons, especially anger, have been tormenting me for years. Legion had so gripped the Geraenene that chains could not hold it. I know that all my efforts to restrain my demons have not always been successful. They still break free of the chains I put on them.

So I'm doing what the demoniac did. He prostrated himself before Jesus and asked him to drive the demons out. So that's what I'm doing. Asking Jesus to take these demons from me and leave me in my right mind. At the end of the story, Jesus told the demoniac to "Go home to your family and announce to them all that the Lord in his pity has done for you." I hope I'll be able to announce the same to my family. Certainly the Lord has done much for me in his pity so far.

Big disappointment

2009-06-08T10:31:00.002-05:00

What the hell, if Julz can start blogging again regularly, so can I.

I got an email (addressed to the whole band) from the singer in our group (lovely tan gal in the blue shirt in the picture from last post) that she is resigning from the band. There's a lot of legitimate stuff she's feeling that led her to the decision. I understand because I've been in that situation myself in other bands. She's feeling that the band passed her by and she's not doing what she wants to do. I asked her to reconsider because it really won't be the same without her. However, I respect her decision either way.

So today I'm quite sad. She's one of the founding members of the group and it's never easy when someone you're close to moves on. We'll remain good friends, however, and I know I'll see her outside of the band either way.

Good luck Sue and may God go with you.

Boys weekend - Updated!

2009-06-05T19:09:00.005-05:00

To start, I had a great anniversary (and I believe the Wife did as well). After we got the kids off to school, we went shopping, had a very nice lunch, looked at a new bicycle for the Wife, and then it was time to go home to meet the kids. I got her a very nice anniversary ring and a GPS. She's been mentioning how she could use a GPS for a while to everyone so I did get the hint. She got me a very nice card and a mind blowing roll in the sack. I think I got the better deal.

This weekend the Wife is off to camp with the girls. She and some of her lady friends are spending the weekend at a YMCA camp with no guys. There's all kinds of cool activities for her do to and best of all she leaves her 3 boys and her dog at home. We have a weekend of video games, playing a gig, and Edward Scissorhands planned. I'm pretty sure when she gets home she's going to find the house a total mess and the three of us in our underwear scratching our butts and watching sports. I highly encouraged her to go and have fun since she needs a weekend away. I considered it an extra anniversary gift.

Ain't I a great husband?

Wife Update: The Wife had a GREAT time camping! She hiked, had excellent food, got plenty of girl time, and even went kayaking! I should kick her out of the house more often.

Quick update. The boys grabbed a ton of great pictures from the gig. I must say the Rocker Guy (and the band) was ON! Anyway, it was a great gig and here's a couple of pictures for your enjoyment.

Milestone

2009-06-03T06:39:00.002-05:00

Today is the Wife and I's 20's wedding anniversary. It seems like a long time and just a moment all wrapped into one. It is hard to imaging those 23 year old kids tying the knot thinking they were all grown up (which I'm sure we were at the time). However, even with all the ups and downs over the last 20 years, I wouldn't trade a minute. Not unexpectedly our relationship is not the same as it was when we started, but I'm still crazy for the lady and would do it all over again.

We both have the day off from work and are going to enjoy some time together while the boys are at school. I got her some kick ass gifts to mark the occasion so hopefully she likes them.

Happy 20th, lady. Looking forward to the next 30 years and more.

Why I'm so tired

2009-05-29T16:26:00.002-05:00

There's been so much going on lately it isn't even funny. End of year concerts, karate, soccer starting up, camping, biking, new landscaping. I've been running a mile a minute at home. However, the thing that has been stressing me out is work Warning now, this might get long.

I've posted some stuff about what's going on at work, but it's time to get it all out of me, release if from my body, and get back to living again. It started a couple of months ago at my annual review. I got blindsided on it and was basically told there was a problem with my ability to work with my peers and my boss had no idea how to fix it. This was followed by getting shit for a raise and resulted in a "don't give a fuck" attitude from me for a while. This was a relatively idillic time for me as I completely let go of all work stress and just did what I thought was the absolutely necessary tasks.

Fast forward to two weeks ago (roughly). I finally managed to pin down my boss to a one on one to try and tell me what I needed to do to get better at my job. It was not a pretty conversation. She reiterated not only her concern, but the CIO's concern that I was not able to work with my peers in any meaningful way. She threw around statements such as "not satisfied in your job", "right guy in the role", "don't know if we need to re-org or what" and finished with "you have no influence". Talk about kicking a guy in the gut. I came out of that meeting seriously wondering if she was looking for an excuse to fire my ass.

Let me tell you this caused me some serious stress for no short amount of time. We spoke on a Thursday and I'd felt like I had a rock in my stomach for the entire weekend. You don't easily let something like that go. I did the only thing I could think to do come Monday morning. I got back to basics. She pretty much told me about the worst thing you can say about me: I can't build good relationships. My entire professional style and personality is about building those personal relationships with my co-workers and customers. One of the things that's made me so successful in my job is my ability to become someone the business can trust to help them navigate the complicated IT organization and help them achieve their goals.

So I took my top projects and started making calls and seeing people to get things done instead of relying on email. I made the long day trip to headquarters to personally speak to the managers I needed to get assistance. I got out of my damn chair and went to see my customers again. Under normal circmstances, it would be liberating. Now I felt under the gun. Top it off with trying to get away from email but that being almost the only way to get in touch with my manager.

By the end of the week the rock in my stomach was smaller, but not going away. And the back of my head started to hurt which I knew was from tension. I've been seriously considering whether or not I want to remain a part of this organization but finding a new job isn't easy these days. But I kept on. This week, the boss was in town and I tried to pin her down for a few minutes just to get some direction on issues going on. I had been debating if I got her ear whether to just come out and lay it all down: do you want me around or not and if you do are you going to work with me to get better. A very risky move.

I managed to get 5 minutes of her time yesterday. I quickly got her up to speed on personnel issues. I told her what I was doing to improve my performance and she liked my approach. I then jumped in (sort of) and told her I'd been under a lot of strain since our last conversation and wanted to make sure if she and I "were good". She reassured me that "we're good". She also agreed that my keeping her informed via email was acceptable at this time.

So I got about as much of a reassurance as I'm probably ever going to get that at least she's not out to purge me from the organization. It's not much, but it will have to do. I can't go on working under a cloud of fear, which was where I was. You can't manage confidently if you think one mistake is going to be your last. So where do I go from here? I keep working my magic and building relationships with the people I work with, inside and outside the department. I get out to headquarters more often so I can talk to the people I need to talk to. I keep working on my MBA. I leave the work at work. I keep my eyes open in case something comes up.

What probably helped me turn the corner is a sermon given when I attended the funeral of my sister-in-law's mother. The priest said, in effect, you're exactly where God needs you to be right now. I have to trust that this is true. In my professional career, this is not an easy time, but there's a reason I'm where I'm at. Sure, in hindsight I see the things I should have done and the influences that probably caused me to disregard all the things I say I believe and do the opposite. But in the end it doesn't really matter. I am where I am. I'm not sure where I'm going. But the Lord will get me there.

Growth

2009-05-17T19:18:00.003-05:00

Two posts in two days! Don't get used to it.

A comment I made on Jeanette's blog made decide to post this. Today Maverick was having a bad day. He spent 10 minutes getting his hair just the way he wanted it, then it got all messed up in the wind when he had to walk the dog. He didn't have a hissy fit or anything, but he was stomping around.

Halfway through church I noticed he was standing there all tense and shaking with an obvious mad on. At first, I leaned over and asked him what his problem was (not quite so mean sounding). He didn't respond but I took a second look and I knew what was going on. He and I are alike in one respect, when we get a mad on, we stew and every little thing just makes it worse. I knew this because I've been fighting that mad on all weekend (story for another time).

So I decided it was time for a "father/son" moment. After communion, I told him to grab his jacket and come with me. We left the church and had a seat in the parish center where no one was. I asked him what was bothering him and he said he didn't know but every little thing was annoying him. I told him I understood and explained how I get like that. I also told him how I was trying hard not to let the things annoying me take over and that I was trying to let it go. He seemed to understand and feel better. By the time we left about 10 minutes later, he seemed in a much better mood.

It's good to know I can still talk to the kid since who knows how long it will last. But at least we both learned something out of the experience.

Out of the Blue

2009-05-16T18:36:00.004-05:00

No, not the album by ELO (though that's a great album). Yesterday I recieved an unexpected email. It reads as below:

Dear Faith on Fire:
I am writing to request Faith on Fire participation at a WDKX sponsored event on June 6, 2009 at the Mt. Vernon Church located at 351 Joseph Avenue. WDKX along with MVP Health Care (formerly Preferred Care) is sponsoring a Unity Day Celebration. This is a free event organized as a collaborative effort by WDKX Radio, Mt. Vernon Baptist Church and SafeChild Foundation Outreach. This is a celebration to bring the community together in crating a safe and productive place to live and improve the quality of life in our neighborhood community and city. This Unity Day is an effort to promote the good in our city, its people and the opportunities.
Everyone of all ages is welcome, We will provide various activities, information, food and entertainment. Some of the entertainment will include a WDKX live broadcast, African drumming and dance from Bush Mango,performance from Miss Sweet Soul Babies and Gospel singing. We hope that Faith on Fire will be a part of this wonderful outreach program in the Upper Falls area. I have attached a copy of the promotion overview, but if you have questions , please feel free to contact me.

Regards,
XXX
Vice President of Finance
WDKX 103.9 FM

I was blown away! The band is all interested in the gig so I'm going to contact the person to see if we can play. The opportunity to play before a couple thousand people will be awesome!

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-10T18:17:00.002-05:00

Happy Mother's Day to all my mom readers out there. Hope you had a great day today. The boys and I took the Wife out to a wonderful Mother's Day brunch at a nearby resteraunt. It was the first time we'd done that and we had a blast! Food was amazing and it was nice to get out. Our waitress introduced herself then said a big hello to Grasshopper. We thought that curious until Grasshopper told us she was one of the 5th grade teachers in his school. Apparently this was her other job. It was kind of funny to be waited on by one of the kid's teacher.

Later we went to visit my mom. We had some dessert and visited for a while. There was a lot more going on this weekend but I don't want to take away from the Wife's day by posting all of that. Hope everyone had a great weekend and Mother's Day.

Newbies

2009-05-06T20:26:00.002-05:00

Tonight was Grasshopper's final Spring concert with the Elementary school band. Last year they closed one of the elementary schools in the district so there are a lot more students. So many that while last year there was one school band, this year there is a 4th and 5th grade band. The 4th grade band performed first. They were pretty good for kids that had been playing only about 7 months. However, you'd have thought they were rock stars or something.

Why you might ask? The parents of said 4th graders spent their entire performance (before and in between songs) shouting out their kids names, hooting and hollering, whistling, and carrying on after every song as if The Beatles were playing or something. This behavior continued when the combined 4th and 5th grade chorus sang.

Now, how do I know for sure it was 4th grade parents making all the noise? Because when Grasshopper's 5th grade band came on to play, there were no shout outs, applause was appropriate, there was no whistling, and no one was standing up waving at their kid like an idiot when the kid couldn't see them in a dim concert hall.

It's probably well and good that Grasshopper will be in middle school next year as middle school band parents know how to behave at a concert. Literally the kids were better behaved tonight than the adults. Of course, the Wife and I were highly dignified throughout the performance. We're not newbies.

Livid

2009-04-30T11:45:00.003-05:00

I had an episode here at work today that just had me fucking livid. It doesn't matter what it was, but I was hot. I took a 1/2 hour walk at lunch and now I'm off the edge. I've been working very hard not to take this shit home with me and I need to let this go before I leave today.

However, I'm getting tired of being treated like an idiot newbie supervisor by people who are self-admittedly too fucking busy to bother to actually get to know me and my real performance.

Perhpas more on that another time. Perhaps not.

Life goes on

2009-04-26T16:20:00.003-05:00

Things have been pretty mellow around here. Last week the boys had off from school so we did a bunch of stuff. I had the boys 3 days and the Wife stayed home 2. Those 2 days I was at headquarters in Schenectady upgrading a server. She got to take the boys to Bass Pro Shop (look it up, it's pretty cool) and then take the boys yesterday on a hike through the gorge in Letchworth State Park while I drove home. I'll drop a picture below. Anyway, even though the three of them are dead tired from all the walking, I think they had the better time than I. I really would have liked to go. The weather was beautiful, if a little warm, and the scenery awesome. It was a great outing on all accounts.

One of the great things about last week was that I recieved a cell phone I'd bought on ebay (pre-paid) and loaded it up with minutes so I have a personal cell number again. One that I'm not giving out to work people. From now on, when I get home, the work cell goes off and stays off until I leave for work again. I started this about 2 weeks ago and you would not beleive how much better I feel! I yell at the kids much less and don't stay angry with them any more! I never realized how much stress work was giving me until I left it at the door.

I could tell you about the stupid stuff that happened at work just the 2 days I was at headquarters this week, but truthfully, I just don't care. It was the kind of thing that was making me crazy at home. I've decided to do exactly what I'm asked at work and no more. Doing more for them just got me grief, so why stress out?

Anyway, as Miss Jude has stated in her blog, I will be a year older this week. No special plans in place, just going to enjoy the day. Hope everyone has a great week. Enjoy the picture of Letchworth.