taz_39 | Partial Reveal, I Guess

Alright, so, in the interest of not sounding like an idiot every time I post from now until Stuff and Things actually happens, I'm going to basically say what I'm doing without saying exactly who I'm doing it with/for. You've all probably picked up on it anyway, you're not idiots.

I've been contracted to go on a national tour with a musical for nine months. There, I said it.

I won't say what show, or give any details, until the show has been announced. I think that should be contractually acceptable for me to do.
For those of you who've read the Friends Only post, apologies because some of the info below you'll have seen already.

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Nine months is a long time to be away from your S.O.

That is the biggest struggle with this whole thing so far.

We've talked about it briefly, but this was something we truly discussed in-depth years ago when we first got into a relationship. It was necessary, since we're both professional musicians (or at least he is). There's always been a possiblity that some opportunity would take us away from each other. And we had to establish our perspectives on that, and where lines, if any, would be drawn.

It turns out that we draw our lines in a very similar place. Yes, it's going to hurt really really badly for both of us to be apart for a long time. And yet we are both very much in agreement that it would be even more awful and painful to turn down a rare music opportunity in order to be together. From that could spring regrets, and what-ifs, and resentment, and we both know why we became musicians and what we value most. So at the least, we can both agree on that. And we've built our relationship knowing that this could happen. Now it's time to put it to the test.

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This whole thing has been one of the biggest blindsides I've ever experienced.

I have not applied for anything musical since the pandemic started. What would be the point? All the shows were closed and there was no telling when or how things would start back up again. Disney laid off something like 95% of its live entertainment, and still hasn't hired them back. Not to mention that even before the pandemic hit, it wasn't like my phone was ringing off the hook for gigs, which is kind of why I ended up focusing on a career in court reporting instead. It never occurred to me that I'd be doing anything in music any time soon.

This opportunity came about because of a Letter of Inquiry email that I sent back in 2019. Some music coordinator found that email (how do you go about finding a two-year-old email? maybe she searched her inbox for "trombone"?) and reached out because they must REALLY need a trombonist. I got that email on my last night of visiting family in PA. I couldn't believe it...in fact I messaged the sender on facebook because we are acquaintances and I was concerned that her account had been hacked, because there was no way this was real. But no, she called right away on the actual phone and said, I'm serious, are you interested? Well...I guess I am!

After that it was a lot of resumes and references and audition materials back and forth, then a whole lot of suspense waiting to see if I'd be offered a contract. As it turns out, I have some really amazing references (thank you Brett, Jane, Jim) who probably clinched the deal for me. So I got the offer, and a few weeks later I got the contract.

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And so now here we are.

Assuming everything doesn't fall apart, I'd leave in a few months. So there are things I'm doing now to prepare, but I also need to keep working and taking steno classes and going about life as though nothing has changed. Which is so weird.

Now you're all caught up with the exception of what show + details, and hopefully some of my vaguejournaling makes a little more sense.
We can all enjoy details later once the show has been announced.

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The first things I did when I realized that this was actually happening was to send my passport out for renewal, and also request a copy of my birth certificate. I don't technically need either for this tour, but having those things ready can really save your a$$ if they do become needed. Plus you need one or the other to get TSA PreCheck, which I'm told may also save my a$$.

Next I made All The Doctors Appointments, because trying to get one on the road is a pain. Better to be up to date before I leave.

I worked on getting my trombone parts, and once those were obtained, started practicing.
I've been doing a lot of research by trolling facebook groups for touring musicians, and have made a huge list of all the things I'll have to take care of. What will happen with my car? Will I be able to practice steno still? How much, and what, should I pack?

That last one is something I can work on at least, and so once I'd made a pretty extensive list I started to purchase a few things that could come in handy.

For one thing, I have never owned a neck pillow. With nine months of travel ahead of me, I think now is the time.

I was going to pack one set of dishes--plate, bowl, silverware, cup--out of what we already have in the cabinets. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized how much ceramic plates and coffee mugs and metal silverware weigh (I gotta stay below 50 pounds in my checked bag, remember). I considered plastic, but most of those dishes are surprisingly non-microwavable, and that is a must in this situation. I ended up deciding on a mess kit made from polyeurethane. It's super light and compact, the mug collapses, and the plate and bowl seal together to form a tupperware (so now I won't have to pack that either). When the container is empty on travel days I'll probably use it to store kitchen spices.

I bought two sets of travel cubes (not pictured, they're boring) so I'll have two large, two medium, and two small cubes to work with. I'd hesitated to buy them, but pretty much every touring musician has suggested them. If each large cube has a weeks' worth of stuff in it, and the mediums and smalls are used for toiletries or cooking supplies or dirty laundry or whatever, I can just pull out the cube(s) I need for one week and leave the rest in the suitcase undisturbed rather than having to dig around and repack constantly.

Two more items of interest: laundry detergent sheets, and an immersion heater.
I found the sheets on amazon by accident, and was thrilled. Even laundry pods weigh more than these and require some sort of container in case of leaks. These I can treat like paper. And there are 32 loads in there! Plus, there are lots of reviews on them from musicians who have loved them on tour so I know they must work!

The immersion heater I learned about on the cruise ship while I was trying to smuggle a hot water kettle into my quarters (technically we weren't supposed to have those). It's basically a metal rod that performs the same function as a heating coil on an oven stovetop. You stick it in your cup of coffee or water or whatever, and in a few minutes you've got boiling water. Far more compact than a water kettle, and far more versatile. I felt that this was a must-have.

Other things that I bought include a black fleece jacket (for easy layering while not looking frumpy), a luggage scale, a bathing suit, and a trombone cup mute. Bringing mutes is going to suck, they're the exact size and shape of an empty wine bottle and take up SO much space in luggage. I may ask the show admin if I can mail them to the rehearsal venue, along with my steno machine. Wastes of space!
There is more that I will inevitably have to buy, but I think it'll be mostly small supplemental things (ziploc bags, batteries, socks, stuff like that). I'm glad to have these components in my hands and checked off the list.

At some point this week my birth certificate copy arrived, so now I have an appointment to get the PreCheck sorted out. The passport check has also been processed so hopefully I'll get that back soon too. I've also started clearing out my garden, taking unneeded stuff to the thrift store, and looking into car storage options or possibly lending it to a friend (with a contract of course).

It's a lot of cautious prep while waiting for more paperwork and information. There's still a lot of time, and being patient is key. But I've been VERY excited, and it's been hard not to say anything! So I wanted to at least spit out what I'm actually doing, which hopefully does not generate problems for anybody.

Moving on...

Friday. Work, nothing new. I left a little early, mostly so I could pick up dinner and get stamps at the post office before fighting traffic to get home. I love to get interesting stamps, not just the boring patriotic "forevers", so I waited in line to talk to an associate. The dude looked surprised to be asked about stamps (I think most people really do default to the self-serve Forevers machine) and pointed to a little placard showing some newly issued designs, but I wanted to know if there were any that he personally suggested, or found particularly cool?

"Well," he said, "The 'Sun Science' series is pretty cool."

He brought them out, and they WERE cool! Kind of metallic-looking, and colorful. Yes, definitely those!
Encouraged by my enthusiasm, he started really getting into it.

"My personal favorites, though, are the 'Heritage Breeds' series. It's farm animals, but they're shown in profile. It makes them look like dignitaries, or presidential candidates!"

USPS dude is not wrong. Look at them. Look how dignified!

I would vote for that duck.
So then I had to get a sheet of both because c'mon.

Back home I proudly showed them to Jameson, then stuck them to the fridge where we could easily grab one when needed.
I ate dinner while he scooted out the door to go see a theatre show with some friends. After eating I practiced trombone for a bit, getting all the way to the Entracte where I was flummoxed by a wicked fast bebop-style trombone solo. Thank God for YouTube playback adjustments; I was able to slow the audio down so that I could play along. Eventually I'll work it up to full speed. And of course I won't play the same solo every night, but I do like to keep the "original" solo in the back pocket, it can be a good foundation for improvisation. Plus people like it when you play what they know.

Then I did the steno homework, then I was supposed to vacuum but by then it was 10pm so it'll have to wait. Bedtime.

Saturday, more of the same. I feel like a bloated whale because Aunt Flo is about to pay a visit (if you know you know) and also have not been getting enough exercise. After dinner I practiced steno while Jameson did some Christmas music, then while he watched speedrunning clips I listened to the second act and tried not to freak out because it's fast and high and therefore seems scary. But I've got months to learn it, so it'll be fine. I think. Probably.

Sunday, my favorite onsite workday because it's usually fairly chill, no management looking over my shoulder, we can dress down, and I wear my mom's sandalwood oil just to remind me. I usually would get my extra coffee on Monday, but this week felt it was needed a day early.

It was a normal day, and afterward I stopped at Whole Paycheck for some wings for the weekend and sushi for dinner. Back home we ate, then I practiced trombone for about an hour. The parts, which I'd been intimidated by the night before because they were so high and fast, were not easy. But by the time my 60 minutes were up I could play all of them passably. I'm still not happy with it, but I feel a lot better about how they'll turn out with two months of practice time still remaining to me.

Then I got a message from my steno teacher that I'd passed my two Lit tests! Yay!
That means I only have four more tests to pass before I get to move on to the 120wpm class!
"Only", hahaha. Still, some improvement is better than none.

Monday, I got a call from my employer's Tampa offices in which they did offer me the HR Assistant job that I had been asked to apply for (remember that?). Turns out "it's a lateral move", meaning no pay increase involved, it would just be a change of location and learning HR skills. I felt awkward turning it down. And I sort-of had to explain WHY I was turning it down, even though I haven't given notice yet. I wonder if that will come back to bite me. Let's hope not, I'd like to continue working, especially if the tour doesn't happen (no indication of that, I'm just paranoid). Anyway I felt they deserved an explanation. They accepted my declination with grace.

On the way home I ate a Pub Sub in the car and went into steno class straight from work. For the first time in steno class I read back my writings without making one mistake! Very exciting. Maybe the 120 class really IS closer than I'd thought.

Tuesday, WFH day. Or not.
Coverage was poor onsite, so someone had to come in. And of course it was me, because I live the farthest away. GREAT AWESOME THANKS. I was irritated, who wouldn't be, but packed a lunch and went to work and frankly did the bare minimum, which is against my nature but I was in some kind of a mood.

After work I fought traffic home and found that the swimsuit I'd ordered had showed up, yay.
While outside checking on my plants, Neighbor Tom came over to tell us something disturbing. The vacationers staying in the house next to ours, a bunch of teenagers, had come onto our pool deck on Saturday afternoon and jumped in our pool. Why are people so stupid?? All of the houses here have pools, including theirs. Why trespass? Because people are garbage, that's why. But anyway, we're now going to install cameras and motion sensors out there, and put up "Private Property" signage or something. The last thing we need is some twat drowning in our pool.

After that Jameson had a production meeting to go to (He's the Music Director for a local production of RENT, very exciting!) so I had dinner on my own and practiced a little steno, vacuumed, showered, lit a candle, had a glass of wine, and chilled OUT.

I have a three day weekend, and am going to very much appreciate the extra time to practice, take care of cleaning/gardening/cooking, and other stuffs. It's our dating anniversary on Friday, so I'd like to make some steaks. And my next loaf of bread will be honey wheat, made with my PA flour and buckwheat honey from PA and hopefully a little walnut oil, too.