Buddy Rich died when I was in high school. I remember not really understanding who he was as a drummer. I purchased some of his recordings and was in awe. Our band instructor dismissed Rich. I vividly remember him telling me that he must have died from a drug overdose. I don't think I've heard as insensitive of a remark about a person's death since that day. What an ass. I've seen a now-deleted video of Buddy Rich playing a drum duet with Louie Bellson. Buddy Rich played a Slingerland set and Louie Bellson played a double kick set.
I met Louie Bellson. My friend Serbi and I went to go see him. He played at Kirkwood Community College with their jazz band and man, the guy had chops. I don't know where modern drummers fit in with these old cats.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Dateline Cresco, IA: Day 2 of 2
I really had a fun time last night. We went to dinner. I had a bacon cheeseburger and fries, washing it down with a couple of Blue Moon drafts. I suggested finding a pool table because, well, I like playing pool. We went to the bar next door. I scratched on the 8 ball on my first game, lost the second game as well as my third game. I had a couple of streaks where I thought I was going to do better than I did, but in all, it took until I challenged Denise before I actually won a game. The whole time this was happening, the music was playing great music and the beer flowed. I really enjoyed the night. It was a lot of fun.
Today, though, is another story. We pack up to go home and return to responsibility. I probably won't type again on this sweet Toshiba laptop for a long time. We need to get back home so we can go to Mass. Regina is producing "The Sound of Music" and depending upon the timing, Alex and I may go to the Newman Center for 4 PM Mass while Megan and Karen may go to the Newman Center 6 PM Mass. It all kind of depends upon when Alex gets home from the gun club with Bill, who is watching our kids this weekend with his wife Debbie.
Tomorrow begins the routine again. Megan has religious education class and Alex has drum lessons. Tuesday is Alex's next-to-final basketball game. Wednesday is Alex's tutor. Thursday, I would like to take Megan to a jazz band concert @ West High School. Friday is the men's CEW in Riverside and I need to go down after work and do some stuff. Saturday, it sounds like we will go down to Riverside and do some stuff with the CEW and go to Mass. Sunday, we will probably make another trip to Riverside to do some stuff, plus Alex has basketball practice. For a year where I am not really involved, it seems like I am involved.
Then the week starts over. Alex has a band concert on 3/8, a basketball game (final of the season) on Tuesday, tutor on Wed, and I think, going by memory, there is another band concert on Thursday. I think on that Friday, we may head up to Balltown for the weekend and then leave the kids there for Spring Break. That leads up to the week of 3/15 which I wrote about in yesterday's post.
I sometimes think that life is too damn busy. There is something happening every night and while it is all things that we have to do or need to do, I can't help feel like it's going way too fast. There are no spare moments in life. I'm not really doing more than observing life, it seems, because I don't feel like I can really enjoy life. That seems odd, in a way, because all the things I do or need to do are things that I had a role in planning, in some way. It's not like someone else is dictating, "you need to do this and that and this." I don't know if I can really explain it.
I do think that Megan is going to be in 8th grade next year and Alex in 6th. I think the next 7 years are going to fly by tremendously quick. In our college group, the oldest child is a sophomore in high school, the youngest is 4. That means the oldest child would be a freshman in college in 3 years. Where does the time go? Alex will graduate from high school in 7 years. Then he will be out of the house. I only have 7 more years to spend with my son where he is living in our house, then he will be on his own. My biggest hope for him is that my daily reminder to him to "make good choices" has 'stuck' to his brain and that he does make good choices. Megan, I have five years before my little girl graduates and moves on in the world.
I just want my life to continue as it is, with good health and good times. I am glad we purchased a camper because, hopefully, camping can continue to play a major role in what we do as a family. We have booked a month in Elkader and will spend seven weekends in Elkader. The first is June 12 for the Sigwarth campout. Then Father's Day. Then a little break until the 4th of July weekend. I hope we go to Balltown again for the fireworks at Breitbach's as they were really good last year. Then 3 more weekends in Elkader. Then a small break where we actually may be home for a weekend on August 7 (our wedding anniversary) then to Sugar Bottom for our college campout with the same group I spent this weekend with, except the kids will be with us. The following Thursday, 8/19, is when school starts. Then the ritual of all this nightly stuff happens will start up again, with religious education, drum lessons, basketball, tutor, and whatever else creeps in between now and then.
It's now 8 AM. I already used logmein.com to access my work PC to check for emergencies of which there were none. I think we are going to be getting on the road by 9 AM. Karen and everyone else in the house are still sleeping.
Today, though, is another story. We pack up to go home and return to responsibility. I probably won't type again on this sweet Toshiba laptop for a long time. We need to get back home so we can go to Mass. Regina is producing "The Sound of Music" and depending upon the timing, Alex and I may go to the Newman Center for 4 PM Mass while Megan and Karen may go to the Newman Center 6 PM Mass. It all kind of depends upon when Alex gets home from the gun club with Bill, who is watching our kids this weekend with his wife Debbie.
Tomorrow begins the routine again. Megan has religious education class and Alex has drum lessons. Tuesday is Alex's next-to-final basketball game. Wednesday is Alex's tutor. Thursday, I would like to take Megan to a jazz band concert @ West High School. Friday is the men's CEW in Riverside and I need to go down after work and do some stuff. Saturday, it sounds like we will go down to Riverside and do some stuff with the CEW and go to Mass. Sunday, we will probably make another trip to Riverside to do some stuff, plus Alex has basketball practice. For a year where I am not really involved, it seems like I am involved.
Then the week starts over. Alex has a band concert on 3/8, a basketball game (final of the season) on Tuesday, tutor on Wed, and I think, going by memory, there is another band concert on Thursday. I think on that Friday, we may head up to Balltown for the weekend and then leave the kids there for Spring Break. That leads up to the week of 3/15 which I wrote about in yesterday's post.
I sometimes think that life is too damn busy. There is something happening every night and while it is all things that we have to do or need to do, I can't help feel like it's going way too fast. There are no spare moments in life. I'm not really doing more than observing life, it seems, because I don't feel like I can really enjoy life. That seems odd, in a way, because all the things I do or need to do are things that I had a role in planning, in some way. It's not like someone else is dictating, "you need to do this and that and this." I don't know if I can really explain it.
I do think that Megan is going to be in 8th grade next year and Alex in 6th. I think the next 7 years are going to fly by tremendously quick. In our college group, the oldest child is a sophomore in high school, the youngest is 4. That means the oldest child would be a freshman in college in 3 years. Where does the time go? Alex will graduate from high school in 7 years. Then he will be out of the house. I only have 7 more years to spend with my son where he is living in our house, then he will be on his own. My biggest hope for him is that my daily reminder to him to "make good choices" has 'stuck' to his brain and that he does make good choices. Megan, I have five years before my little girl graduates and moves on in the world.
I just want my life to continue as it is, with good health and good times. I am glad we purchased a camper because, hopefully, camping can continue to play a major role in what we do as a family. We have booked a month in Elkader and will spend seven weekends in Elkader. The first is June 12 for the Sigwarth campout. Then Father's Day. Then a little break until the 4th of July weekend. I hope we go to Balltown again for the fireworks at Breitbach's as they were really good last year. Then 3 more weekends in Elkader. Then a small break where we actually may be home for a weekend on August 7 (our wedding anniversary) then to Sugar Bottom for our college campout with the same group I spent this weekend with, except the kids will be with us. The following Thursday, 8/19, is when school starts. Then the ritual of all this nightly stuff happens will start up again, with religious education, drum lessons, basketball, tutor, and whatever else creeps in between now and then.
It's now 8 AM. I already used logmein.com to access my work PC to check for emergencies of which there were none. I think we are going to be getting on the road by 9 AM. Karen and everyone else in the house are still sleeping.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Dateline: Cresco, Iowa
I've written about the college weekend away previously and that's what is happening this weekend. I'm sitting in a living room in Cresco, IA, typing on a very sweet Toshiba laptop. The idea to get a laptop for Christmas has been floated and, if it was as cool as this one, it might be something I would be interested in.
Last night, the men sat in the basement and we watched "The Hangover" while the women stayed upstairs. It was a good night. We all cashed in @ 2 AM.
The drive up was good. I think it's good to spend quality time with Karen, talking. It sometimes seems like we don't have all that much time during a regular week to do so. I miss sharing that quality time with her and discussing things that are happening. Like, last night, we fleshed out more of the kids' schedule for Spring Break. They are going to spend at least part of it in Balltown. I think we will go up the weekend before and leave them there on Sunday when we come back to work. Both of us have to work all week.
Project A is a huge change that has to do with how our clients process something. We have to be certified by someone and then, after we deliver the software to our clients, the clients need to be audited and certified. The way this has to work is that it has to arrive on 3/12 (that Friday). Selfishly, that week (3/15) is going to be a very busy week at work. The timeline for testing and documenting the changes to the system have a two week window. There are consultants involved so it will be very important that everyone stays on-time.
Project B means a lot of work for me. It involves buckling down and writing some content that I have been procrastinating. It is not that the content is difficult to write - I think I could bang it out in a day - it's that I think it's overview material, about something stupid that no one is going to read. It's content that should be covered in a training class but since we don't really do training classes like we used to - clients seem to magically end up with a new system on their PCs - I understand I need to write the content. There is also a lot of project B that I need to write in other areas, besides the aforementioned overview. I am comfortable with where I am, but there are holes I need to fill in.
Project C involves doing the user interface work I do and making records that display in pink display, well, in pink. If you imagine a floor with a carpet. The programmers code the floor and I design the carpet that everyone sees. I don't know if that really makes sense or not. I had to submit a call report to the software vendor that makes the "carpet" because the obvious ways to make the records display in pink did not work.
Project D is also a user interface project. When you are in Add mode, F16 should never be enabled. However, if I set it up where F16 is disabled in Add mode, it is disabled in Change mode as well. I tried all the obvious, and not so obvious, things I know how to do but it didn't seem to work. I asked for a call from the vendor and I need to get that resolved.
Project E is a huge change to one of our systems. Not only are there going to be UI changes - the carpet - but there will also be a lot of documentation changes. I've come to the conclusion that while it is not scheduled for release until the April/May timeframe, I cannot delay working on it until then. This area of the system continually has smaller changes but this is a larger one. I am hoping my co-worker is available to take some of the documentation work off my plate. However, I know that she is busy too so that's kind of an on-going storyline.
So that's five projects that would normally weigh anybody down. It is common to be 'under' that much at work and have multiple priority #1 projects. I don't know, really, how much I will keep up with this blog as the weeks go on. Life at home is equally busy with religious ed, drum lessons, tutor, basketball game, and, of course, homework.
I did take my grandma's cactus to work this week. It was looking sickly in the den at home and I think it was because of not getting a lot of light. So I'm hoping between the artificial light in the building and some TLC, I can bring it back to health.
I think I don't have much more to say.
Last night, the men sat in the basement and we watched "The Hangover" while the women stayed upstairs. It was a good night. We all cashed in @ 2 AM.
The drive up was good. I think it's good to spend quality time with Karen, talking. It sometimes seems like we don't have all that much time during a regular week to do so. I miss sharing that quality time with her and discussing things that are happening. Like, last night, we fleshed out more of the kids' schedule for Spring Break. They are going to spend at least part of it in Balltown. I think we will go up the weekend before and leave them there on Sunday when we come back to work. Both of us have to work all week.
Project A is a huge change that has to do with how our clients process something. We have to be certified by someone and then, after we deliver the software to our clients, the clients need to be audited and certified. The way this has to work is that it has to arrive on 3/12 (that Friday). Selfishly, that week (3/15) is going to be a very busy week at work. The timeline for testing and documenting the changes to the system have a two week window. There are consultants involved so it will be very important that everyone stays on-time.
Project B means a lot of work for me. It involves buckling down and writing some content that I have been procrastinating. It is not that the content is difficult to write - I think I could bang it out in a day - it's that I think it's overview material, about something stupid that no one is going to read. It's content that should be covered in a training class but since we don't really do training classes like we used to - clients seem to magically end up with a new system on their PCs - I understand I need to write the content. There is also a lot of project B that I need to write in other areas, besides the aforementioned overview. I am comfortable with where I am, but there are holes I need to fill in.
Project C involves doing the user interface work I do and making records that display in pink display, well, in pink. If you imagine a floor with a carpet. The programmers code the floor and I design the carpet that everyone sees. I don't know if that really makes sense or not. I had to submit a call report to the software vendor that makes the "carpet" because the obvious ways to make the records display in pink did not work.
Project D is also a user interface project. When you are in Add mode, F16 should never be enabled. However, if I set it up where F16 is disabled in Add mode, it is disabled in Change mode as well. I tried all the obvious, and not so obvious, things I know how to do but it didn't seem to work. I asked for a call from the vendor and I need to get that resolved.
Project E is a huge change to one of our systems. Not only are there going to be UI changes - the carpet - but there will also be a lot of documentation changes. I've come to the conclusion that while it is not scheduled for release until the April/May timeframe, I cannot delay working on it until then. This area of the system continually has smaller changes but this is a larger one. I am hoping my co-worker is available to take some of the documentation work off my plate. However, I know that she is busy too so that's kind of an on-going storyline.
So that's five projects that would normally weigh anybody down. It is common to be 'under' that much at work and have multiple priority #1 projects. I don't know, really, how much I will keep up with this blog as the weeks go on. Life at home is equally busy with religious ed, drum lessons, tutor, basketball game, and, of course, homework.
I did take my grandma's cactus to work this week. It was looking sickly in the den at home and I think it was because of not getting a lot of light. So I'm hoping between the artificial light in the building and some TLC, I can bring it back to health.
I think I don't have much more to say.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Google Searches
This site reports that Google has added Facebook pages to real-time searches. That's awesome.
A TWing job asked for "Knowledge of DITA, Epic Editor, RoboHelp X5, and FrameMaker". It seems really an odd combination. RH X5 and FM didn't really go together. Curiousity didn't get the best of me. I didn't apply. :>)
A TWing job asked for "Knowledge of DITA, Epic Editor, RoboHelp X5, and FrameMaker". It seems really an odd combination. RH X5 and FM didn't really go together. Curiousity didn't get the best of me. I didn't apply. :>)
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
It's only Going to Get Worse...
This month, I have been hit hard by the requirements of life. I have found myself tired at the end of the day and not having any desire to sit in front of a PC. It's a different style of living. I would never have thought I would be content to fall asleep on the couch, watching TV, instead of writing or surfing the Internet. I seriously question whether this hobby is something that I will continue. I know part of me enjoys being busy. Every night this month, except for the other nights in Feb I have posted, there has been things going on. We've had band concerts, in-laws visit, and basketball games. There is always something going on. And I expect it to only get worse in the next few weeks. March is already filling up, though after the first week, Alex's basketball season will end. Then there will be a short break from sports until the North Liberty Baseball season begins. I expect Spring Field Clean-Up day to be the weekend after Easter and then to continue with weekly games and practices until June. It makes a lot of busy families have even more on their plate. This is Megan's next-to-final year of playing softball. She will be entering 8th grade in 2011 and then West as a freshman in 2012. Then sophomore in 2013, junior in 2014 and graduating in 2015. Crazy.
At least I'm not a bird in Washington DC:
At least I'm not a bird in Washington DC:
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
Ketchin' Up Vol. I
In my daily routine, I am always on the lookout for interesting things to add to this blog. Serious. I self-edit a lot. I also was stuck in a rut of watching too much television last week. This week, though, I have a busy week and need to use my time wisely. I even skipped out of the last 1/2 hour of WWE Raw. It was going to be John Cena v. Ted Dibiase and then Randy Orton v. Cody Rhodes. If I thought for even a milli-second that the WWE would allow Dibiase and Rhodes to win against the two largest stars on Monday night (Cena and Orton), I would have watched.
That paragraph, though, has nothing to do with the hideous layout of this site. Shielf your eyes.
That paragraph, though, has nothing to do with the hideous layout of this site. Shielf your eyes.
Sexstone Forever..
Without a doubt, this is my new favorite band. I listened to this CD a lot prior to writing http://www.dailyvault.com/toc.php5?review=6431, which is the album this song is from. The video here is an acoustic version.
SEXSTONE: Wait For Me (Soldier's Song)
Sexstone MySpace Music Videos
SEXSTONE: Wait For Me (Soldier's Song)
Sexstone MySpace Music Videos
Monday, February 1, 2010
YEAH TOAST!!!
I noticed today that Penquin's Comedy Club in Cedar Rapids is hosting Heywood Banks this weekend!
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