taz_39 | Entries tagged with kansas city

A normal travel day.

This TSA agent at Lubbock International gave me the creeps.
The minute our large group started piling in and lining up at the baggage drop, his hand went straight to his gun and he stood there staring at us and clutching it the entire time. Dude, CHILL :(

My stomach did not do well on the rapid-fire double flight with basically no layover (I tend to need time to recover from motion sickness between flights and didn't get it) but I didn't barf. Today my stomach feels temperamental, but I'm ignoring it.
Stress and travel, blah blah blah get over it.

The hotel in Kansas City. You guys.
I walked into my room and could swear they finished building it minutes before we pulled up.

Watch on YouTube

Everything new and shiny and so clean that I could possibly be the first person to stay in this room.
And it's very "Millennial Grey", which made me laugh.

It's a nice way to end this nearly three-month stretch on the road.
Three days of shows, then we get to go home for a bit.

I walked to the Whole Paycheck, also SPANKING new.
Since we only have three days I got limited groceries, and the only "new" items that I tried were an ayurvedic lemon chai-thing that was spicy and kinda grainy, and an Urban Remedy drink called "Blue Magic" that I've seen many times and have wanted to try.

Back at the hotel, unpacking and chatting with Jameson as we got ready for bed.
Oh, and finding our company rental car in the garage for easy access tomorrow.

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Friday morning, it was dreary and rainy out which suited me just fine as I have a lot of prep work to do.
Starting with pre-interview paperwork for Osceola County.

I now have a PCP appointment on Tuesday, an interview for Court Clerk with Osceola County that same afternoon, and an interview with Sprouts the day after that. Orange County hasn't set up an interview with me yet for their Court Clerk position, so we will see if that happens. All of that plus my usual cleaning, gardening, cooking, repacking, errands, and actually spending time with my Jameson, will keep me very busy for the whole week home I'm sure.

In the afternoon it was raining pretty hard and my umbrella was six miles away at the theatre, so I took the rental car to Andre's Confiserie Suisse for lunch. At first glance online it looks like a chocolate shop...and it is! But they also serve three square meals, wine and beer, and of course desserts.

( CLICK HERE for Andre's! )

The afternoon was lazy as it continued to rain steadily.

In the evening we drove out to the Starlight theatre.
I've been excited to play here ever since finding out that it's an outdoor stage.

I've played outdoors for theme parks, and this definitely had that theme park vibe.
Backstage entrances disguised as ivy-covered walls, castle-like structures, the sound booth shed.
Reminded me of Busch Gardens.

In the pit we had a surprisingly large space.

There were difficulties with the MD's setup, however.
The primary difficulty being the expensive and vital laptops, keyboards, and Ableton rigs exposed to rain.

Because of that, after sound check the MD station was moved completely under the stage.
He'll be viewing and conducting the show via a camera.
This is the first venue where we've been FULLY remote.

It felt very odd. The pit was super quiet; we couldn't hear our own sound out there in the theatre at all.
That makes a big difference because how we hear the sound in the space impacts how we play in that space.
I don't know about everyone else, but it certainly made me play with more hesitancy.
The fun part, though, was that we could still hear audience reactions.
And I think being outdoors gives a certain casual vibe, which results in people being more raucous.
Lots of loud whistling, cheering, "woooos", and of course laughing :)

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Saturday I had a slow morning and worked on applying to be a Notary in the State of Florida.
Because half of these government jobs seem to want it, and it's actually pretty easy to become one.

Partway through I took a break for lunch and a walk to Bay Boy, a sandwich shop only a few blocks away but up a steep hill.
They specialize in sandwiches made on Dutch crunch bread (also called "tiger bread".)

Today, it being a weekend, they had BACON crunch bread in addition to the regular!

I got one of each (had planned on only one but they were only $2 each!)
Here is the plain one. The bread is brushed with a mixture of rice flour, sugar, and yeast.
When it bakes the flour dries and creates the crackled pattern, a crunchy exterior but soft interior, and a little sweetness.

I tore off a piece of the bacon one to try and thought it was delicious! The bacon was in thick chunks but was also super crispy and delicious, and the inside of the bread was pillowy soft and divine. The bacon one was more dense than the regular due to the weight of the topping and probably some extra fat residue, but both were amazing.

After that I wanted to go for a walk as it was sunny and lovely out.
In the hotel lobby I came across Kevin (Head of Sound) who said that he and some friends had gone to a soul food restaurant I'd recommended for this week, and it had been amazing. Then as I continued on my walk, my phone kept dinging with all of the messages, pictures, and links that people were sharing in Megan's Foodie Finds.

As this tour comes to an end, it makes me feel really good knowing that I contributed something that brought enjoyment to some of my coworkers. The recommendations lists were fun to make, and lots of people got to eat locally and try something new that they may not have experienced otherwise. I'm glad I did it :)

I walked to a little plaza with a Half Price Books and a food co-op.
There was nothing that I needed but of COURSE I always find something to bring back!
This time it was a brand of jerky I'd never had before, and a can of local chocolate raspberry flavored coffee.

The show this evening went well, I had several friends in the audience!

This is my friend Kristy (far left) and the friends that she brought to see our show.
The Starlight is WAY too big for our little production, so the box office is giving away free tickets with the passcode "Tootsie Pop".
It's nice to be able to get my friends free tickets for once!

They had a great time, and after the show we had a quick hug and a selfie before parting ways.

It's too bad that we didn't get time to actually catch up, but with the show ending so late and having to carpool back (and me with the keys) I didn't think it fair to keep my passengers waiting or to keep Kristy out late. It was good enough that we had a moment to say hi in person.

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Sunday I woke up with my brain buzzing through all of the to-dos that come with a layoff.

After breakfast I booked a taxi for Monday's airport trip because I'm paranoid about Uber availability at that hour.
Two coworkers wanted to come with me, so at least it turned out to be a useful booking.
Printed and signed my paperwork for my notary application, then in the afternoon walked to CVS for an envelope for said paperwork.

And that was pretty much it.
Packed, prepared for tomorrow's travels, ate my meals, and finally got ready for the show.

It was a pretty normal show, except we all got to wear graphic tees because Brandon (bass) is leaving us, and it was his departing request. I'm sad that he's leaving, but he lives in Florida so hopefully I'll see him around!

The show went normally, and afterward we packed up as usual and maybe a little extra because we're all about to be home for a week!
Near the stage door here at the Starlight is this plaque:

The wall in question:

There is not much space, but I made do. My initials are there somewhere at the Starlight.
Until we meet again, KCMO.

I drove the guys back to the hotel, filled the rental car with gas, and turned in the keys.
I weighed my luggage and set it waiting by the door.
Only a few hours of sleep, then it's off to Orlando!

**Disclaimer: The content of this post reflects my own personal views, opinions, and experiences.
This post does NOT express the views or opinions of my employer.**

Note:
Due to an ongoing family emergency, there are times where I may post less regularly or with less content.
Thank you for your understanding.
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The venue: Kansas City Music Hall

(stock photos)

Covid Tests to Date: 21

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TL;DR: Too bad, no time for a TikTok this week :/

Monday the travel day.
Woke up and had a nice breakfast that I ordered from Corner Bakery Cafe (had a coupon), and took my time packing since we weren't leaving until after 11am.

Bus to the airport, and this time we were on a littler jet, and it was slightly delayed for some small maintenance stuff (safety first!).
But we got to KCMO between 5-6pm, and were able to check into the hotel right away.

Our hotel is really cool! It's kind of "vintage", with a Deco theme going on and a lot of brass fixtures and decorations, even an old-fashioned mail drop.

I'm a big fan of Deco and the 1920s-30s aesthetic, and I think this hotel is beautiful!
This time I did not have a fridge or a microwave, so it was time for a little grocery improv.

Consentino's grocery is just a few blocks away so I'll certainly be eating there this week. However I also like to save money, and I enjoy the challenge of cooking in the hotel room. So I picked up a variety of nonperishables and lugged them back to my room. We do have a shared refrigerator in one of the lounges this week, so I got a few Greek yogurts and a small carton of egg whites, but that's it because I don't want to hog space in there. There are also two microwaves which I will use occasionally.

Here is the rest of my haul:
Fresh fruit, canned vegetables, soups, minute rice, applesauce, tuna salad packets, tuna and salmon packets, turkey jerky, dried edamame, granola, and almond butter. Plus my usual coffee, tea, oatmeal, and condiments.

Many fruits, veggies, carbs, and fats are just fine without refrigeration. It's the PROTEINS that tend to be a problem.
I will probably have to supplement with more protein, but with what I've gathered here I definitely have all of my meals and snacks for the week. To me that's a win!

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Tuesday I woke to this lovely view of KC:

After breakfast we received the startling news that our show for the evening had been CANCELLED.
Apparently one of our trucks had some sort of issue and was held up back in Houston.
Can't do a show with half our equipment in another state! I wonder if my trombone is on that truck...yikes.

Anyway, it didn't change much for me. I had planned to get my local bread and visit City Market, but otherwise had made no plans.
I had previously scheduled a covid booster for Wednesday as we have Thanksgiving off, and briefly considered changing it, but decided against it; it's only one day's difference and getting it on Wednesday ensures that I'll have a full 24 hours to recover if I need it. If I get it today I might still end up with less than 24 before our next show.

So off I went, first to Ibis Bakery + Messenger Coffee Co.

It was slam-packed in there! And there really was a bakery right there inside, churning out fresh croissants and all kinds of other stuff (they ship to a lot of local businesses). In fact, I got there just in time because they only had ONE loaf of bread left! The cashier told me they bake their breads in the morning and spend the rest of the day on pastries since that's what people get with their coffee throughout the day. All that was left was a cinnamon raisin sourdough, which I was perfectly happy to have!

It's beautiful and moist, and despite being somewhat sweet I think it will still make a nice contrast to all of the nonperishable soups and jerkys and salted things that I'm relying on for my meals this week.

Next I walked to Walgreens and CVS just to see if, by chance, they had any Moderna boosters that I could have (they did not). I specifically want Moderna because A) Since that's the vaccine I got, I can reasonably predict how the booster will affect me, and B) it's a half-dose compared to the other boosters, because the Moderna vaccine has been proven to be more effective than BOTH other vaccines. This could mean the symptoms might not be as strong.

I will still try to get the Moderna booster on Wednesday, but now that sound check is on Wednesday it may prove more difficult.

Finally I took myself to Banksia, an Australian-inspired bake shop, for a tasty lunch!
Not only did they have some amazing sandwiches on their menu board, but they also had a full bakery rack full of delicious tarts and croissants and cookies, and a selection of hot Australian hand pies!

It was a tough decision, but I went with a lamb and harissa sausage roll with almonds, couscous, and currants.
It's been a while since I've had lamb, and I'm not sure I've ever had harissa (a zesty red pepper paste). It was incredibly delicious! The gamey lamb and the tangy, spicy peppers with the almonds and slightly sweet currants. It looked very basic but it tasted very fancy!

For dessert I found a mini pavlova! I've never had pavlova but have seen it made on Great British Bake-Off.
It looks very difficult to make...you've got to slow-cook egg whites so that they crisp on the outside like a meringue, but also stay soft on the inside like a marshmallow. Then you top that meringue shell with whipped cream and berries. Knowing what a pavlova is supposed to be like, I think this one was PERFECT. It was light and crispy, but the inside was soft and creamy, just beautiful. I wished very badly that I could have shared it with Jameson. I suspect store-bought pavlova shells are nothing like this.

Back at the hotel I did some work for family and digested my food, then set off again because it was such a nice day and I know there won't be much time for fun for the remainder of the week.

I visited an antique mall where I bought nothing but enjoyed three floors of window shopping.
Then walked through City Market, which is a little closed up for the winter but some of my favorites were still open like Bloom Bakery and the cute Italian deli on the corner. It brought back all kinds of memories from when I used to live here, and when I passed through with the circus.
And of course I had to walk past the Sprint Center, where we used to perform. Well...now it's the T-Mobil Center.

By the time I was ready to go home it was nearly 4pm.
The rest of my night was quiet, just little chores and responding to emails, planning my meals for the week, watching Netflix. Things like that.

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I woke up a little nervous about the covid booster.
I've decided to try showing up early to get it. If I wait until the scheduled time I'd be cutting it very close to show call time, and I don't like that. I'd rather risk experiencing symptoms during a show than be late to work, or not get the booster at all.

After breakfast there was PCR testing in a hotel lounge so I went to take care of that. And then it was a chill morning. I basically hung around the hotel, with one quick jaunt over to Consentino's for some chicken to supplement soup for lunch.

Jameson got his covid booster as well. He's a Pfizer guy, and I'm Moderna. His reactions are not as strong as mine, but I've read that this doesn't say anything about your immune system...some peoples' immune systems are just "louder" than others.

I took an Uber to a Walgreens that had the Moderna booster (remember that I explained my reasons for wanting the Moderna earlier in this post) and was able to get it within minutes of arriving. They let me wander around the store for my 15 minute wait time, so I found a Sharpie and a 4x3" vaccine card sleeve (much needed, I've almost crushed mine or gotten it wet several times!). After that I Ubered back to the hotel in time to have a quick snack before sound check.

Opening night went well, but as predicted I started to feel the effects of my booster halfway through the show.
Immediately after returning from intermission I started shaking, and suddenly felt very tired. By the time the show was over I was starting to get body aches. But ya know, it's really nothing. I've played shows with the flu, and with food poisoning, and with Montezuma's Revenge, lol. It sucks to play when you don't feel good, but the worst is when you're nauseous. Can you imagine playing a wind instrument that requires abdominal support while you're about ready to barf? It ain't fun. Compared to that, this was a cake walk.

I walked straight back to the hotel afterward, grateful that it was only a few blocks away this week.
Got the pj's on and a big fluffy sweater, and crawled under the covers to ride it out.
It was a rough night...my arm has never hurt this badly post-vaccine, I think maybe tromboning might have made it worse. I had a low fever, chills, body aches, and a headache. But I still managed to get some sleep, and a Tylenol helped a great deal.

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The next morning I had breakfast as usual, still achy and tired but at least not nauseous.
I turned on the Thanksgiving Day Parade, checked on Jameson (his arm was sore but otherwise he was fine), and texted with family.

I continued to feel moderately lousy throughout the day, so napped on and off, watched tv, had a few small snacks to stave off hunger until our Thanksgiving dinner at the hotel restaurant. At 6pm I got cleaned up and went down to get some turkey!

The food was very good! And most of the band showed up, we talked and laughed and had a good time.
I was still not feeling great so didn't stay too long, just about an hour.
But I was glad for this Thanksgiving time. Even if I couldn't be with my family, I got to enjoy the traditional meal with good friends :)

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Friday I felt a lot better, just tired and achy.
For the rest of the weekend we have two shows each day, so I'd better be ready!

This venue is another one of those 1930s-era silent movie houses, kind of like we experienced in NOLA. The pit is very small and narrow, really just a strip at the front of the stage.

It is so small, in fact, that our drummer had to be pushed to a back room!

This happens sometimes, it's partly why we all have the little monitors clipped to our stands.

Our two shows went well, although Steve (trumpet 1) was feeling sick during the first act.
It turned out to be food poisoning, so although he was uncomfortable he's ok.

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Saturday, I had a slow lazy morning and a trip to the grocery for a chicken breast to add to my lunch soup.

We were covid tested in the afternoon. Both shows went well again, with big enthusiastic crowds.

At this time I'd like to share what the "family emergency" has been this whole time.
Back in October, my dad passed away due to complications from Covid.
You can read the entire obituary HERE if you like.

Next week the show is in Baltimore, but I will be taking that week for bereavement, to go home and help my family with service planning.
So do expect a break in this blogging next week. Thank you.

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Sunday, the shows were at 1pm and 6:30pm.
It was quite chilly out so I wore my layers and brought my black fleece into the pit to stay warm.

The shows were nice and the audiences had a good time.

Tomorrow will be A Travel Day From Heck.
We leave the hotel around 7:30am, and do not arrive at the airport in Baltimore until 6:30pm.
From there I am breaking off from the tour to get a rental car and drive to my parents' hometown for my dad's memorial service.

I will rejoin the tour a week from now, when we play Washington DC.

Thank you for reading!

I ended up leaving my seedy hotel. As it got dark, I noticed more and more roaches in my room. Every time I moved, roach ran away, every item that I touched, roach ran out from under it. Turn on a light, roaches. Go to the bathroom, baby roaches (which look a lot like ants until you look closely) crawling between the tiles. Yep, that there's an infestation. I let the front desk know, and gtfo.

You'd think by now I'd have learned, it's worth the extra $20 to stay somewhere decent.

Oh well. The second hotel was very clean. I shook out all my clothes and checked them for bugs (major skeeves!), then took a long hot and hopefully sanitizing shower. Ick. Slept very well for the first time in a long time.

The next morning I had a relaxing start to the day. I had a nice cup of coffee while watching tv, then got dressed for the audition and checked out. I killed time at a nearby Barnes & Noble, then had lunch at a little sandwich shop. Then I drove to Mahaffey Theater to sign in for my audition.

The audition helpers signed me in and returned my $100 check (which had been held in case I didn't show up for my audition). Then I was taken to a green room where I waited along with five or so other auditionees. Everyone seemed a little tense, and everyone was looking at their phones, so I didn't bother anyone even though it felt kinda awkward. I was called to a warm-up room almost immediately though, and given the list of excerpts that we'd be asked to play that day. Months ago, for audition preparation, we were all given three solo excerpts and twelve or so excerpts to learn. Of those fifteen pieces of music, the audition panel selects one solo and five excerpts to be played on the day of the audition. This way no one will know which pieces they'll be asked to play until the day of. I was happy to see that they'd chosen the solo piece that I was most familiar with, but was bummed to see that one of the excerpts was one that I hadn't learned as well as the others. Oh well.

And in the end it didn't matter because I didn't get to play that excerpt (it's not unusal to be asked to stop before performing all of the music on the list). When it was time for me to audition, I was led to the stage by an audition helper. We tiptoed out onto the stage--there was carpet laid down to muffle the sound of footfalls, but it was still a big echoing imposing space!--and while she made sure the music was in order I had a look around. Mahaffey Theater is a beautiful space. I wondered what it must be like to play there regularly.

Then it was time to play. I enjoyed the sound in that space, lots of reverb and very forgiving, but I didn't forget that there were musicians listening who'd be able to hear past that. This audition was easier than the Kansas City one because a) the panel was screened so I didn't have to feel eyeballs scanning my soul for flaws and b) the hall sounded great, so by default I couldn't help but enjoy the sound no matter how I was playing. I was surprised that I was allowed to play all but the last two excerpts. For some auditions, I have been stopped after just one or two. Not hearing the dreaded "thank you" in the first few minutes was really nice!

After I got the "thank you", I gathered my things and went to wait in the green room. The mood was much different, as all of us had finished playing and the nervous tension was releasing its grip. I got to chat with several trombonists, which was really nice...for some auditions they never let competitors so much as see each other in passing. Here we were given a good opportunity to mingle and enjoy some snacks provided by the good ol' AFM. Two of the auditionees had brought alto trombones (an option for one of the excerpts), and we passed these around to check them out and compare them. We noticed a flyer on the wall telling us to mention "bones & brews" at a local bar to get a discounted drink after auditions were over, and this led to a humorous discussion on low brass stereotypes (for my non-musician friends, the stereotype is that tubists and trombonists drink more than the other sections!)

Eventually a gentleman came around to give us the results: all of us could go home except for one gentleman who was asked to stay, and would presumably be in the finals the next day. All of us shrugged philosophically, shook hands, and parted ways. This is how the majority of orchestral auditions end for the majority of auditionees. There's just one spot available, and so many of us, and so many great players out there. I'm still frustrated because I could have done better, I could always do better, I just once want to play for an audition panel the same way that I play when I'm practicing alone. Still, I left feeling pretty good, if only because I'd gotten to enjoy meeting fellow trombonists. :)

And now, it was time to drive to Jameson. The drive to Orlando took about an hour and a half. I stopped at a grocery to grab some items for breakfast, then continued to Jameson's apartment. I got there first but in under a minute Jameson was there too. Finally!! He was standing right in front of me! We are together!! After our painful parting back in March, I think both of us have been wondering when (and IF) we'd see each other again. I felt happy, and relieved somehow. We walked to his apartment together, just talking about our day. We had enchiladas for dinner, which Jameson had made (he's a great cook!).

You'd think that with all this heartache going on, we'd be crying and squeezing each other and there'd be, I dunno, more drama. Instead, it was just like we'd never been apart. It felt right, and good. I've been really nervous about moving in with him...concerned that I'm imposing on his space, and being a jobless leech. But after seeing him today, and getting to have a real in-person conversation, I feel a lot better about all of this. That night I quietly worked on computer things while Jameson taught his classes. It's the first time I've seen him teach, rather than listening from another time zone.

The next day we both had to get up early, him for work and me for some job interviews. Knowing that I wouldn't make it to the audition semi-finals, I had scheduled a few interviews with interested parties. The first interview was very close to where Jameson worked. It went well, but I'm still waiting on a job offer. Afterward I drove to Jameson's office where I got to see his workspace and meet his coworkers. Very cool!

My next interview was in Davenport, which seemed close until you took Orlando traffic and the mess that is I-4 into account. My goodness. It wasn't even rush hour and it took nearly an hour to get there. I made it in time and the interview went well, but the commute really concerned me. It was no better on the way back either. Hmm. Afterward I had some lunch, then drove around for a bit trying to find a community college or school where I might be able to sneak in and practice. No such luck. At that point I was very tired, so went back to the apartment to rest.

When Jameson got home from work, we decided to go out for dinner. Our first date in a while! We had teppanyaki, I had a really nice piece of tuna and Jameson got shrimp and chicken. Full and tired, we went back to the apartment and watched tv together for a bit before turning in.

I had to get up very early to drive to the airport, return the rental car, and find my flight. All of this went smoothly, including the flights back to KC. On the way home I picked up some groceries, then got home and crashed hard.

Thursday, I went to work as usual. It's weird to think that these are my last few days at work. After work I went home and did one final sort-and-separate of all of my belongings.

On Friday I spent the day working on BAC's email contact list and listing some instruments for sale. These are probably the last two I'll be putting up for sale: a nice used Buffet R13 clarinet, and a Bach strad with a Thayer valve.

Saturday was a half day at work. I spent it training a new employee...he's not here to replace me, and can only work on Saturdays(?), so I just showed him basic stuff like operating the register and creating repair tags. After work I went straight to the apartment laundry room and did all of my laundry for the last time. When that was done, I began packing the car. I wanted to make sure that everything would fit. Most things did, but I decided to ship a box anyway so my car would not have to struggle quite so much.

Of course the next day when I went to drive somewhere, my car began stuttering and the check engine light came on. GREAT. And on Sundays all repair shops are closed around here. To be honest, I panicked a bit. Was I overloading the car? Would I have to unpack everything again? What if it was a major repair? Then I realized that this felt like the exact same problem I'd had a few months ago, when an ignition coil bit the dust. On the recommendation of facebook friends I stopped at an Autozone and asked for a diagnostic. Yep. Ignition coil again. So tomorrow morning I will be up bright and early to be the first one in the door of the dealership. I really, really hope that's all it is.

I dropped my box off at FedEx, grabbed lunch and some snacks for tomorrow's road trip, and came back to the apartment. I vacuumed and cleaned the whole place, and threw out anything that I didn't need. I carefully took the plants out of the window and watered them so they'd be ready to go tomorrow. I also decided to prepare the flytraps for hibernation, even though they won't go into the fridge until reaching Florida. They're just easier to transport this way, and figured I may as well do it while it's cold too. I uprooted them and carefully untangled their skinny black roots from the moss, then took each plant and trimmed off the dead parts.

After that each one got a rinse in mineral-free water, followed by a light coating of daconil to help prevent mold or fungus. I laid each plant in a bed of fresh moss soaked in water and daconil. The plants are much bigger this year (because they didn't get run over) but there are fewer of them, so they fit just fine. I took this picture, then closed the lid. From now until March I'll check on them every two weeks and water them as needed.

Now I'm trying to relax before going to bed. It's the last night in my apartment. So empty. And so quiet. When I first moved here every morning was raucus with birds, every night vibrating with cicadas and frogs. Now that it's cold and the fall winds have come and gone, it's almost dead silent at night. As I was bringing the last few belongings to my car a few minutes ago, I turned the corner and was startled to find myself only a few feet from a doe. She froze, and so did I. We regarded each other in the silence between the woods and the parking lot. Then I started walking again, slowly so as not to frighten her. She didn't run away, but watched as I opened the door to my car, then turned and walked quiety back into the woods.

I have enjoyed this time along in "my own" place. It's been nice having all the space, and the quiet, and the beautiful woods right outside my door. There are things about living here that I will miss, like volunteering at the nature center, and going on walks on the local trails. There are things that I regret missing out on, like seeing the rest of the Nelson-Atkins Museum or eating at Q39. There are things that I'm very glad I was able to experience, like working for BAC Music, auditioning for the Kansas City Symphony brass, and visiting the KC train yard one last time. Kansas City has been difficult, and fun, and calming, and stressful, all at the same time. It's been uncertain, but good.

Now it's time to move on. Unfortunately, living here turned out to be a massive money suck for a variety of reasons. If I stay here any longer, everything I've worked so hard to save during my time with the circus could be lost. And the main issue is that it's been very painful to be away from Jameson. This is still weird for me to say as I've never been invested in a relationship before. But now I am, and I'm going to act on it. Jameson has prepared a place for me, and I'm grateful to him, and excited to see how it will be living together. Tomorrow begins a new adventure.

On Monday I came in to work late because my boss had gifted me a visit to a chiropractor! Awesome!! I don't have anything really painful going on, but the various stresses in life plus sleeping on the floor have got me a little tense and stiff. I really appreciated being able to take some "me" time to help my body loosen up. Thanks Matt!

At work, nothing spectacular happened. Afterward I practiced, then went home to work on some applications. It was extremely windy that night, making it incredibly difficult to sleep.

On Tuesday Matt was not at work, but pretty much everyone else was. I went over a few POS things with Dirk (assistant manager) who will be taking over a lot of my tasks. I mean he's worked here long before my time and already knows how to do most of the stuff! After that the day was very slow with few customers. Maybe because it was still like a wind tunnel outside. After work, Eric had his gig with the big band again, so he hung out and listened as I nervously practiced my excerpts. When it was time for him to go he said goodbye and left...so I was surprised a few minutes later when he came back. I opened the door, thinking he'd forgotten something, and he handed me a pumpkin spice latte! He'd gone to Starbucks for one and they'd made an extra by accident, and he thought I'd like it. Heck yes!!! I've actually never had the Basic White B**** beverage of choice before. It's really good! If drinking it makes me basic, well sign me up ;)

After practicing I went home to cook some fish and listen to Jameson give his classes. For those interested to know, he's currently teaching Songwriting & Development, Genre-Based Production, and Digital Recording Principles. He is very smart, my Jameson.

On Wednesday it was a pretty normal day at work...lots of phone calls, a few customers. I had a blazing headache at the end of the day, and while I tried to practice it didn't go very well, so I decided it would be OK to use that evening to run some errands instead. You can always improve on something with practice, but sometimes it's good to take a step back too. Or maybe that's my problem. There's just so much I've got to do right now.

Thursday was pretty slow. We had a little rush late in the afternoon, but nothing to write home about. I inventoried all of the accessories in the store (except, yeah, I forgot a few things. Sigh) and took in two trombones on consignment. I stayed after work to practice, but only a little bit.

On Friday morning I got to audition for the Kansas City Symphony trombone section. I was "invited" to audition a week or two ago...there isn't a position open, this was just to be listed as a substitute and to be heard by these fantastic players. So of course I said yes, even though it meant missing a few hours of work and whatnot. I drove to the Kauffman Center, found a place to park, and was able to find my way inside where I met Roger (principal trombone). He escorted me to some warm-up rooms, where myself and another gentleman from Arkansas waited to be heard. The KCS had a dress rehearsal that day, and I enjoyed turning up the speakers in my warm-up room to listen as they played. I would have liked to stay for the whole rehearsal, but beggars can't be choosers. Around 10:30 I got to audition first. And that's where things went to garbage, like they tend to do whenever I audition anywhere, for anyone.

I was afraid. I am always afraid. The silence in the room terrifies me so badly that I shake, and you can hear it in my playing. I make weird mistakes that I would never have made while practicing, that a grade schooler knows not to make. I try to tell myself to calm down and just enjoy the music, like I do every day in practice. When I'm alone practicing for hours and hours, and getting up at 6am during rental season because I care and am determined and want to do a good job. But in the end none of that matters at all, because over all of the work, and all of the hope, and all of the expectations, there is this horrible crushing voice inside me that the minute I begin playing, starts screaming and never stops. Fool. Idiot. Amateur. How can you waste these people's time. You are garbage, everyone knows it, everyone can see it. Why do you even bother. See how all of your work was for nothing once again. What an embarrasment. Nod and smile and say thank you, and walk out, and put the trombone away, and get back to work. And oh, hey, have you considered taking drugs next time? You probably should.

Every damn time. I was hoping that by now...and especially after five years of playing in front of thousands of people...I'd have gotten over this at least a little. But I guess not. I'll bet a lot of you are tisking at the pessimistic tone, but you know, after more than a decade of this a person can really get tired of it. I'll keep trying, because there's always a chance. Maybe when I'm fifty, maybe seventy-five, I'll have enough confidence. But in the meantime forgive me if I'm frustrated, and vocalize it. These are the feelings I have in the moment. Usually after a day or so I get over it and move on.

Anyway all of that aside, I was extremely grateful for the opportunity to try. It makes me glad that there are professional musicians out there who are willing to give other musicians a listen, and give them hope that their hard work will pay off. I hope that the gentleman from Arkansas did a great job. He sounded wonderful in the warm-up room.

At work, I worked, then went home and felt disgusted with myself. On Saturday I had the day off. I really needed it. I got to sleep some, and packed a bag for my flight to Florida. I'll be auditioning for The Florida Orchestra on Monday. After Friday's experience I've got no room for expectations about anything, so am just looking forward to seeing Jameson for the first time since March. I'm flying out on Sunday, auditioning Monday, using Tuesday to apply for jobs, and flying back to KC on Wednesday.

For the rest of Saturday I tried to be productive. I took more things to the thrift store, shipped out my bass trombone to Jameson's place, and packed a box to be shipped later in the event that not everything fits in my car. I ate any food that might go bad while I'm gone, took out the trash, and took a little time to just read and find some distraction.

On Sunday I got up early and drove to the airport. My first flight went to Dallas, and the second was to Tampa. From there I got a rental car and drove to Saint Petersburg, and checked in to my super-seedy cheap hotel. As I type this I'm watching Food Network and thinking about how much more enjoyable it will be to watch it with Jameson.

It's a little weird...this is the first time Jameson and I will see each other since March. I feel like we've both been through a lot during that time, not all of which can be conveyed through texts or over time zones. It's been hard, to be honest. But I have to say, I feel like when I see him again, and get to hold him, none of the superficial nonsense swirling around in our lives will matter.

Monday, work. I created a price list for all of the repair services that BAC Music offers, and also got started on a quick-and-dirty guide to our POS system and some of the things that I regularly do with it. After work I practiced, and went home. I think I might have applied for more jobs.

On Tuesday morning I received my official invitation to audition for The Florida Orchestra. I had applied to audition back in August, but hadn't been assigned an audition time yet, so it wasn't official. Orchestra auditions are pretty complex...many people don't realize that there's a process and a method to it. First the orchestra posts the opening. Then hundreds of applicants send their resumes. Some orchestras will make an effort to audition anyone who applies, while others will weed out applicants based on their resumes alone (this has happened to like 99% of orchestral musicians at least once). If you are not weeded out, you will receive a confirmation email containing some paperwork, a list of the required excerpts, the date and time of your audition, and a request for a check written out to the orchestra in a certain amount. The paperwork and the check must be sent to the orchestra by a certain date. The check is the orchestra's way of preventing people from wasting their time: if you show up, they'll return your check, and if you don't, they'll cash it. Simple as that.

Anyway, this orchestra sent its confirmations out this week, and I was very happy to get the chance to try. While it would be wonderful to win the position, I have no expectations, and am mostly just glad to get the experience. Having an audition to prepare for has also been great motivation for practicing and getting used to my large bore trombone again.

Speaking of large bore trombones, Eric (brass repair tech) cleaned up my bass trombone for me. I haven't played bass in a long time, but it's good to know that it's ready to go whenever I need it. Thank you Eric!

Wednesday, more work. Sorry to be so boring but just nothing exciting happened. We all had our noses to the grindstone. After work Eric (brass repair tech and bass trombonist) had a gig with a local big band, and I had another lesson with Wyatt. I think it went better than the last lesson, maybe because I was slightly less nervous. There were still many mistakes, there is still a TON of stuff that I need to work on. But Wyatt is a great teacher, and he seems to have a way of keeping things positive and objective. He makes me think that when I move to Florida, I should probably invest in some more lessons with the local professionals, or at the very least find out if anyone is holding masterclasses and attend.

After the lesson I was all fired up to practice, but of course I couldn't at 9pm. So I just didn't sleep well instead :P

Thursday, Matt was in the store with us and it was actually a little busy. We had people coming in for repairs, consignments, accessories...even some people looking to job shadow the repair techs! Matt graciously gave me a half day on Friday...I am really thrilled! There is so much that I still need to do...packing and shipping and errands and planning...ugh.

Friday. One hour of my blessed time off was lost to sleep (apparently I needed it). I cleaned out my car, went to the bank, and cancelled my utilities, among other things. Then I went to work for four hours. Then all of us went to The Peanut just a few blocks away. It's one of KCMO's oldest bars. Everyone said, "Get the wings", so I did! They were AMAZING. So much vinegar and spice that the steam from them scalded my nose and made my eyes water, and cracked pepper had been pressed hard into the meat. Hurts so good!

On Saturday I was the only one in the store. It was moderately busy, mostly with people just stopping by to see what we had. I stayed after to practice, then grabbed some groceries and went home to work on packing some more. I managed to consolidate some boxes, and now everything is more or less in the living room. There is still too much...I may have to ship some things. I hope my car can handle it.

On Sunday I had a concert with the Midwest Winds, a community group that I've been playing with. It's been a long time since I got to participate in a "real" concert! I was nervous. But it went very well and was a lot of fun. I was surprised that it only ended up being an hour long! We played some marches, a Scottish piece written in remembrance of a massacre suffered at the hands of the British, an Italian wedding song, and several other works. We had a small audience, but they were appreciative.

Afterward I went home and did laundry, ate dinner, and worked on some job applications. Then I went to bed early. This is going to be a long week.

This week was somewhat busy so I didn't document it very well.

On Monday I brought some of my furniture to work because people had agreed to pick it up there. One lady sent her husband to get my bookshelf, another came to get my table. That was the last of my furniture. Now I have a folding chair and a nightstand until it's time to go.

Late Monday afternoon I left work for an hour. Wyatt, trombonist with the Kansas City Symphony, had offered to listen to the excerpts I'm preparing for an audition over Halloween weekend. I was very nervous. Playing in front of people is nerve-wracking every time. I also had not played the large bore for anyone since I started practicing it (except for the one time Eric and I had played duets) so I didn't know how it would go. I've found that people are often impressed that I was a circus musician, and there can sometimes be the assumption that I'm going to be ridiculously amazing. High expectations are frightening when you know you aren't living up to them.

Despite my misgivings the lesson went well...or at least, it was very helpful to me. I definitely didn't play my best, but Wyatt is a great teacher. He pinpointed some areas where I need work, and gave me suggestions for how to improve. I left his house feeling more confident and itching to try out some of his suggestions. I've had some teachers in the past who were incredibly negative; it was a relief to get constructive criticism and some tools to improve. Thank you Wyatt!!

After work I practiced.

Tuesday was quite slow. I listed instruments. I stayed after work to practice.

Wednesday, Matt suddenly appeared in the middle of the day. I'd thought he would be on vacation all week...but he always has so much to do, I really shouldn't have been surprised. I was happy to sell a few instruments that day, but nothing more exciting than that happened. That night it was surprisingly cold and I couldn't get my furnace to turn over, so I ended up getting a space heater which was just fine.

Thursday was slow again, and Matt did not make an appearance. At this point I'd listed most of the instruments on eBay...by Friday I expected to have all of them finished. It's been slow going. Every instrument needs pictures, and then those pictures need to be edited, and then uploaded to our POS system. Then I create the eBay listing, and that can go either quickly or slowly depending on how much info I've got on the instrument. If I have to research the model or brand or whatever it can take quite a while. Finally I upload the pictures to eBay, decide on a price, and post. Some listings can take 15-20 minutes to create.

After work I practiced a bit, grabbed some groceries, and got home.

Friday was a normal day at work. I left slightly early to go play my final gig with Flashback KC.

The weather had been pretty dreary and cold all week, but Friday night was clear and warm. There were many people eating dinner out on the patio at Pinstripes, where we were playing. I enjoyed joking around with the trumpet and sax players between charts, and watching people get into the music and get up to dance. This guy especially.

Sometimes dancing like this will happen thanks to adult beverages ;) But I found out later that this gentleman prefers dancing to lose weight. He needs to lose weight so that he can have knee surgery. He has changed his diet, and although he hates exercising, he loves to dance! So he does it, and disregards what others think. I was happy to hear his story and the reasons behind his joyful expressive dancing.

I know that many times I've seen people being rather "expressive" in public, and the thought has passed through my mind that "that person's weird" or "he/she must be drunk" or somesuch. I'm sure we all have thought it. But it's important to remember that whether they're weird or drunk or something else, people are still people. And everyone has different ways of feeling good, and free, and themselves. And as long as it's not harmful to yourself or others, whether it's "weird" or not doesn't matter at all. These were some of the thoughts I had after talking with this gentleman.

Anyway, the gig went very well. We had a responsive audience and enthusiastic dancers. For the first time I screwed up my courage and went to the front of the stage with the horn section for a little solo bit during "I Wish", and then again for our last song, "Beginnings", in which the trombone has a prominent solo. Dave (trumpet) and Tim (sax) seem to really like the first note of that solo...at least they have egged me about it plenty every time I've played it! So I made extra sure to hit it tonight. It was a good time and everyone had fun :)

Afterward I said my goodbyes. It's really been a pleasure playing with this group. This is how music should be: fun for the audience AND the performers. That's how you get a good experince. Anytime you're in Kansas City, go hear Flashback KC. They're incredible musicians and wonderful people.

The next day I had work in the morning. There were a few customers but overall it was slow. Afterward, even though I can't really afford it right now, I decided to treat myself to coal-fired pizza. After picking up the food I went straight home, to my leasing office, to deliver my lease termination notice along with a rather large check for the termination fees. As usual, the leasing office was closed. They're not supposed to be. I left a fairly annoyed message on the voicemail. Then back to the apartment. I have been living in a mess since last weekend; when my furniture was sold everything that was in or on it ended up on the floor.

Now it's time to start sorting things and finding out what will be making the cut to go to Florida, and what will go to the thrift store. To anyone who has given me knick-knacks or books or other such things, if I have to get rid of something that you gave me, I'm very sorry. I just can't fit all of this in my car, and can't ship it all either, and can't afford a moving service. Anyway, I managed to get a little more than half of my junk together in a pile in the living room. Yay?

On Sunday morning I woke later than usual...must have needed that sleep. I made a run to the thrift store and picked up some moving supplies at Walmart, then made another attempt at the leasing office. Of course they were closed during their normal business hours. I waited for 15-20 minutes, then said screw it, I have things to do. I left a voicemail describing what I was dropping off, and dropped my paperwork into the mail slot. It's supposed to be delivered by hand or certified mail, but if you're not there for either option, I don't know what anyone expects.

I went back to the apartment to sort more of my junk. Partway through the day I heard a commotion on the stairs, and soon after there was a knock on my door. I opened it to see an associate from the leasing office and two firemen. They asked if everything was ok, and if I'd smelled any smoke. Nope. A few minutes later I had to leave for rehearsal. There were ten or so firemen all around our building, and two fire trucks in the parking lot. An older lady was standing there fretting...she was the one who called the fire department because she'd either smelled or seen smoke. I overheard one of the firemen consoling her, saying, "It's ok, it's not a bother. You did the right thing." Damn straight. I'm glad to know she lives in my building.

Rehearsal was fine. The concert will be next week. After rehearsal I came home and cooked my food for the week, then allowed myself some time to just chill. The next few weeks will be extremely busy as I wrap things up at work, take some auditions, and prepare to start over in Florida.

Monday, Monday. I had slept poorly, and work was difficult. Just couldn't focus very well. I got some things done, but certainly wasn't as productive as I could have been. And then that night, for some unknown reason, I couldn't sleep at all! Woke up at 3am and just stayed awake, no matter how hard I tried to sleep. Ugh. The one thing of import that I did was to give official notice to my employer. Here we go, decision made.

On Tuesday I was fortunate to be granted a day off...not a real "day off", but a day to take care of a LOT of things that need to be done before I can move. First, I went to the Toyota dealership to take care of regular maintenance and check for any problems, as I'll be driving quite far soon. Next, I went to my leasing office to discuss the possibility of subletting. I've got to say, while this has been a nice place to live, I've been very disappointed in the lack of communication from my landlords. For example, I sent several emails and made several calls in advance of this meeting to try and set an appointment. I asked what day/time would be convenient for them, who I should meet with, and whether I should bring anything. No one ever responded. So a day or two beforehand, I called and told someone that I'd be coming in on Tuesday. Then I showed up on Tuesday, and was told, in person, to "leave a message". What??? I'm standing RIGHT THERE. Whatever. I "left a message" and was told I'd get a call. Then I went to do laundry (it's in the leasing office basement). This took about two hours. Still no phone call. So I went back upstairs and stood there and waited until one of the women came out to ask if I'd been helped. Then, finally, I got to talk about my options for breaking my lease.

I pretty much already knew what they were, but wanted to see if there were exceptions to the "no sublease" rule, and also get something in writing about what it would cost to break the lease without subletting. That was all I wanted. It took maybe ten minutes. While I understand it's a small office with a lot of people to serve, no one else was waiting in the lobby, the phone was not ringing off the hook, and it was normal business hours. Meh, anyway, I was glad to get that over with.

After that I debated listing some of my furniture for sale, but decided against it in favor of a much-needed nap. Then I went to get a haircut, then a trip to the bank. I haven't been to the bank once since moving here...I've never even set up a pin number for my card! Ridiculous.

Back home I cooked all of the food that I hadn't made time to cook over the weekend. Boiled chicken and baked fish, pasta and potatoes. I listened as Jameson taught his online classes, and looked for/applied to jobs. It was a very productive day.

On Wednesday it was rainy and chilly, I like that weather! Work was good, I got to take a drive to the factory to pick up some instruments, then back at the store Kristy and I sorted them into piles: leftover repairs, consignments, and BAC-owned instruments. We then created records for all of the instruments needing repairs, and added the consignments and BAC instruments into inventory. I spent the rest of the day trying to finish inventorying more instruments and fielding phone calls. After work I stayed a bit to practice.

When I got home that night my Mom called, and I realized to my shame that we haven't spoken in a REALLY long time! I talk to my Dad via email often, but recently my parents have been busy with visits from other family members and other events, so I guess subconsciously I thought, "They're busy this week," and didn't call. It was great to catch up! Especially since I hadn't told them ANYTHING about my plans to move to Florida! UGH! Despite the suddenness of it, they took it well. I hope to visit my family before the end of the year.

Thursday was very slow at work. Hardly any customers came in. My boss was supposed to be there but got caught up working at the factory. He'll be on vacation next week. I spent the morning having an infuriating battle with my computer...for some reason it wouldn't connect to the internet. Wasted two hours of my day with customer support so that I could do my work.

Friday started out with myself, Eric, Kristy, and Dirk at the store, and ended with just me. I managed to finish inventory for ALL of the instruments in the store (finally!), and then made a nice display out of some Powell flutes that were recently sent to us.

I was supposed to start listing items for sale on eBay, but eBay itself was having issues with photos so it was slow going. I have been using my own computer at work, and because of the internet snafu on Thursday I'd decided to offload all of my work-related documents to an external drive, which I will leave behind for whoever comes after me.

After work I practiced a bit, then hit the grocery, then went home. Eric had kindly aligned the slide on my Bach 42 earlier in the day and had suggested that I wash it, so I did. Then I had the urge to start sorting my belongings into "taking to FL" and "not taking", but I knew that once I started I wouldn't be able to stop and this could go on into the late hours of the night. So instead I looked for jobs and tried to relax.

Saturday was very slow at work. A few people came in for repairs, and since I'm not a tech, all I can do is take the instrument for someone to look at on Monday. I listed some instruments on eBay (why is eBay SO SLOW with uploading photos?!) and cleaned, and before long it was time to close. I had wanted to go to "Japan Fest" at the nearby community college, but was very anxious to start sorting, packing, and listing my belongings in preparation for the move. It is amazing how much stuff I'm going to have to offload this time around. All of the furniture that I bought, and I'll have to get rid of most of my books, many of which have been with me for much of my life. But to be honest, I've been thinking of digitizing them.

By evening someone had already come for my desk, and I had appointments set up for people to come and get most of my other furniture the next day. Not bad.

On Sunday I woke early because someone was supposed to come get my office chair, but he ended up late (he made up for it by giving me $5 extra). I spent the afternoon generally making a mess of my apartment, sorting many things into piles. In the afternoon I had rehearsal with the community band, then quickly drove home because someone wanted to buy my bed frame and mattress. Someone else wants my small bookcase and will pick it up from me at work tomorrow. Now all the furniture that I've got left is my folding chair, another bookshelf that's not worth selling, an end table, and a nightstand (that I hope I can take with me because I like it!). This is really happening. Crazy.

On Monday I'm leaving work for about an hour to have a lesson with a local trombonist. He's offered to go over my orchestral excerpts with me. I'm already embarrassed at how I know it's going to go, but there's no helping it. Few people can improve without outside input, no?

On Sunday I woke up, and felt fall in the air.

As I drank my coffee out on the balcony, I smelled the familiar clean, crisp, leafy air that reminds one of this time of year. I thought to myself, today is October 1st, and I will not be here for much longer. I should go see the train yard.

This was a thing that I'd wanted to do since moving to Kansas City. But to be honest, just hearing the lonely echo of freight whistles as trains pass through this city has been heartwrenching. Everyone has heard me say it a million times, but I'll say it again. It was more than just a job, or just a show. And the way it all ended felt like a death...a very unfair, very disgraceful death for a legacy that deserved to go out with dignity and grace. But life isn't fair, and everything dies in the end. And feeling sad isn't a good reason to avoid the places where wonderful things happened.

I drove down to "The Bottoms" for the first time since moving here. One of the great things about the cities where I had to walk instead of drive, is that I remember so much more about those places. Kansas City is one of those. It was a reflex to turn left at the bottom of the overpass, drive straight past the warehouses, to the place where the road turned to dirt and the tracks began.

I parked under the overpass, walked past the "No Outlet", "No Parking", and "No Trespassing" signs, into the yard. Following the fence, so that at least if anyone came to yell at me they couldn't accuse me of crossing live tracks. I crossed under the overpass where the flats and wagons used to sit.

( Read more... )

Monday was pretty normal, for me. Although the worst of the hurricane had passed, poor Jameson still did not have power (along with, you know, six million others!) Because of this I didn't hear from him much...he was trying to conserve battery. At work it was surprisingly busy in the morning, and then traffic died down a bit near the end of the day, so we got to leave close to normal closing time.

On Tuesday I got up early to practice, then went to work a bit earlier than usual. I cleaned up a bit and brewed some coffee for us. My boss was at the factory doing repairs. Kristy and Eric were busy with repairs for a local university. I spent my day helping customers and trying to inventory what instruments we've got in preparation for selling some step-up instruments during the fall. My progress on that was pretty slow as for each instrument, I have to consult existing records to find out if it's BAC-owned, consignment, Rent My Instrument-owned, on loan from a manufacturer, etc. And when I do finally find out what it is, I have to carefully log the info (model, price, condition, age, etc) and input all of that into a point-of-sale system. It's slow going but I hope it will be helpful later on.

After work I dropped by a luggage store to pick up my trombone case, the one that came with my Williams. I was hoping they'd be able to fix the latches, but they couldn't/wouldn't. I'll have to try again somewhere else. On the way home Jameson reported that his power had come back on. Awesome!

Wednesday was pretty straightforward. We finally got the Yamaha Advantage Primers we'd ordered...this was important because a local school started using them this year, but declined to tell any of the local stores (or the parents!) so even though everyone needs it it's difficult to get ahold of. I'd been taking names of people who needed the primer, and when they came in today I called each one, offering to either hold the book or drop it off at the child's school. Most parents were happy to pick it up :)

I should mention that on Wednesday morning before work, I had kind of an ugly interaction with a customer on facebook. I had recently listed a silver Bach 43 trumpet for sale on fb marketplace. As I ate breakfast and scrolled through facebook, I saw a message from this person asking about the differences between the bells on the model 43 and 37 trumpets. I replied with what I knew, which is that the 43 has a specific taper to the bell, and the bell is also made from one piece and hammered by hand. He snootily responded that "almost all" trumpets have one piece bells (not true) and then asked again what the differences were. I told him very frankly that I was not sure, and suggested that he consult the internet for the differences between the two trumpet models. I then did this myself and sent him the results of my search, where he would have easily found the answer to his question. Instead he continued to mock me, asking why I had "no clue" about an instrument I'm selling and basically going on about how I'm a horrible salesperson.

At this point I lost patience and ended up trying to defend myself, which ended in getting blocked. While interactions like this are commonplace in any retail setting, this happened while I was off the clock, in my pjs eating breakfast. I was more annoyed than I should have been.

But I mention this because over the next 24 hours, karma repaid me twofold. That same morning, a customer purchased a harp from me. This harp was in our shop on consignment and was one of few instruments that I personally got to choose to accept (because my boss looked at me and said, "Well? It's up to you.") I took it in about a week after I started working at BAC Music.

Over the months it became a sort of joke, a hopeless cause that took up space on the sales floor, periodically dragged to this-or-that corner to make room for some rental cellos or music stands or something. I swear, every kid who came into the store touched it, running their excited fingers over the sensitive nylon strings. Even most adults couldn't walk past without reaching out to give it a pluck. It eventually ended up in a corner near the register, where it gathered dust and made the occasional racket when someone's unsupervised child couldn't resist it.

( Read more... )

In other news, I thought it might be nice to do a sort of "Where Are They Now" for circus folks. Here is what some of my circus family are up to.

First off, the Great and Powerful LaRena. LaRena was a Ringling clown, and after the circus folded she got a gig with a Japanese circus. Shortly after moving to Japan for work, she started having health problems that unfortunately turned out to be quite serious. No one likes to hear the "C" word...imagine having to hear it in a foreign country, far from home and everyone you know and love. LaRena and her mother have been documenting their battle with cancer, and her circus family has been watching with worry and love. After several long months of chemo and intense struggling, it seems that LaRena is coming out the victor. LaRena, we love you and we're cheering for you. You're the strongest person I know.

Next up we have Adria. Adria was an elephant handler for Ringling. After the circus closed, she tried to work at Feld's CEC so that she could stay with the animals that she loved. Unfortunately Feld chose to keep Adria on in another capacity that didn't allow her to interact with her charges, Mable and April. So Adria chose to take on a more fulfilling role with an elephant habitat in Texas. Now I'd say she gets to interact a LOT. It's great that she can continue working with these animals without being treated like a criminal by the public. Same wonderful human being, same loving heart, same quality of care.

Let's check in on some of the boys. Ryan Henning, former Ringling animal specialist and spokesperson, bought many of the circus's animals and equipment before the show folded. Now he's opening his own attraction: Camel Kingdom, which is part of his preexisting venture, America's Show Camels. Congratulations Ryan! Ryan's hard work and dedication to his animals is apparent when you look at these gorgeous camels.

After the circus closed, Koji Kraft hit the ground running (or riding if we're being totally accurate). He participated in several extreme sports competitions and events, continuing to wow audiences across the country with death-defying feats...and his relentlessly positive dedication to the sport he loves. From what I can tell, Koji is currently on tour with ASA Entertainment, showcasing the art of BMX to promote acceptance and anti-bullying in high schools across America. Rock that modern bushido, Koji. \m/

Keeping track of the Mongolian troupe has been hard work, mostly thanks to that pesky language barrier. However most members look like they're doing well. Especially Monjok here. You don't need no language to see that he's freaking AWESOME. Congrats!!

And of course, there are many circus people who have not yet found their "life after Ringling". For privacy reasons I can't say any names, but I am aware of at least two circus friends who lost literally everything but their lives in Hurricane Harvey. Again, I hope these people know we're standing by to help in any way possible.
Members of the Red Unit circus band also seem to remain nomadic at this point in time. At least three members are relocating to different cities/states in the next few months, and some are starting to tour again with cruise ships or national productions. An unpredictable lifestyle is par for the course for many musicians, but that doesn't always mean it's easy.

There were hundreds of people in the circus, and it's hard to keep track of what everyone is up to. I'm seeing a lot of people getting married, having kids, finding new jobs, finding the next steps. I hope for a bright future for every one of us.

Back to work!

My poor boss is coughing and hacking up a storm. He wants to take Saturday off, but I suggested maybe another (earlier) day as well, thinking some rest mid-week might help him get through the rest of the week. Human beings can only do so much you know. It was reasonably busy in the store, actually nicely busy, just enough to make the time go a little faster.

Tonight was the first night it really felt like fall. As we locked up the store, we noticed the chill in the air and the slight breeze. It felt wonderful. I have also noticed the hummingbirds getting more aggressive around the feeder, and that the food seems to be disappearing more quickly. I think they must be preparing for migration. At home, I opened the screen door, letting the chilly breeze flow through the living room. It felt so good.

Wednesday was a pretty busy work day, with lots of rentals coming in. By the time it was all said and done we needed to restock on instruments and some supplies. Kristy says that we've got about two more weeks of "rental season" before things start to go back to "normal". After work I took my trombone case for the Williams over to a luggage repair shop. All of the latches are broken, and I'm hoping they can be replaced or repaired so I can continue using the original case (which is really cool-looking).

Thursday I got up early to practice. It went ok...not great. I wish I had more time, like two hours back to back, for tromboning. But that would mean either getting up at 5am or staying up two hours later, and right now that's not really an option. Work was less busy, so I had time to get some instruments tagged, order some things for the store, and price some items. After work I went straight home, messed around online, and worried about my boyfriend, who seems to be right in this hurricane's path.

Friday was surprisingly slow at the store. I managed to list some step-up instruments, and even clean a little. After work I ran some errands, then went home and fell asleep early. I hadn't slept well the night before, worrying about this and that. There is a lot going on, which I may get into later if it's not too personal.

Saturday, my boss was out going to a K-state game with BAC founder Mike Corrigan. From their photos it looked like they were having fun. I had expected it to be super busy at the store, but to my surprise I spent most of the day fielding phone calls about rentals instead of actually renting. I probably helped with 3-4 over-the-phone and online rentals. The day was short. Afterward I went grocery shopping, then came home to do a little cooking and cleaning.

Sunday, I did not help at the nature center. I suspect that my time to volunteer there is over. This week I got a call from a local community group that rehearses on Sundays, and they'd like me to join. I said yes, so that will be my Sunday activity from now on. Flashback trombonist Jeff is also going to let me sub in for him a few more times, so between these musical activities, work, and working toward getting back to where Jameson is, my time will be pretty much spoken for. That's a good thing. I've honestly been kind of depressed, and if I'm busy I won't be moping around.

Right now Jameson has lost power, so I'm not reaching out to him. I've been through a hurricane myself, and know what it's like to have to ration your use of electronics. There are many circus people in Florida, some of whom chose to evacuate and others who are riding it out. I hope everyone gets through it ok.

Business has picked up this week, but it's still nothing near what I'm expecting one of these days. Seriously, I think working at Music & Arts ruined me. When someone says, "It's going to be busy today," I picture arriving at work with a line already waiting at the door. What I see in my mind is piles of returned instruments, empty shelves (because we've run out of things and everything is backordered), kids tearing instruments off the walls...you get the idea.

It hasn't been like that so far. But I still worry, because I'm a pessimist.

But things have been ok. There have been more rentals and accessories sales have picked up. We were able to order in a large shipment of reeds and oils that should come in handy. Customers have been pleasant. Not so bad.

I've been getting up early to practice. No one has bothered me so I think it's ok. In the mornings the music side of the building is still pretty empty.

I ended up getting a smaller mouthpiece this week too. Playing a small bore for the past five years has altered my embouchure quite a bit, and it'll be a while before I feel comfortable on a big mouthpiece/horn again, so I figure may as well help myself along.

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I can't believe it's the end of August already.

This week was still not as busy as I expected, but at some point we're just going to get hit with the rental crowd, can't exactly predict when that will be. Most of what's going on at the store right now is to prepare for that. Making sure we have enough instruments to rent, enough accessories in stock, etc.

Somewhere in there (was it Thursday? Friday? Can't remember) my boss decided that we should have a drainage ditch outside the store. When it rains really hard the water pools right at the entrance, and it's really difficult for people to get in and out, plus it creates a huge muddy mess. So he got out the power washer and started hosing away, then Kristy (repair tech) had to dig a trench next to the sidewalk while my boss went to the hardware store for pipes. Meanwhile the hose for the power washer was running directy through the center of the store. There's a bucket under the leaky section.

At the same time, we got a huge shipment of T-shirts that are going to be given out as a freebie to anyone who rents an instrument in-store. While Matt and Kristy were doing construction, I got them sorted, folded, and put away.

At the end of the day we had several customers looking for percussion equipment, which led to the realization that some things were missing for rental season. This led to a slew of frantic orders, cancellations, phone calls, and emails. That trend continued into Saturday thanks to changes in the method books that teachers are using. Hooray retail.

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The weeks just get busier and busier. I can't wait to get rental season started (and over with).

Monday and Tuesday were normal, busy days. Lots of customers. On Tuesday night as I was driving home, my car stuttered and the check engine light came on. Greeeeat. Most garages around here close after 6pm. I was able to get home ok, and luckily my boss had given me Wednesday off to ensure that I wouldn't dip into overtime hours. Perfect. I got up early and went and sat in a Toyota dealership.

I had pulled my car into the garage and was waiting next to it for someone to sign me in. Several other people were doing the same. I was startled when a woman tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Excuse me, did you know you've brought a passenger with you?" She pointed to this large bug on my rear windshield. Cool!

Soon after that I was all checked in and waiting for a diagnosis. After about an hour I was told that my ignition coil had failed and taken a bunch of fuses along with it. The problem with ignition coil failure is that that part is attached to many components of one's engine. So there was a possibility that other parts of the engine were damaged as well. They would start repairs and report problems as they went. Greeeeeat.

I had three hours to wait, so walked to a Panera for lunch, then since there were several dealerships in this area I walked through some lots and looked at cars. Just in case. My car is pretty fantastic, it's been coast to coast twice and up and down the east coast more times than I can count, through temperatures from -20F to 120F, and various altitudes, climates, and driving conditions. It's been driven HARD. If it needs some repairs finally after a decade of use, I'm willing to invest in it. But only to a certain number, you know.

Anyway, as it turned out, the repairs were manageable. I was able to drive home in the afternoon, leaving enough time for a much-needed nap.

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Well this week, time really got away from me.

We started extended rental season hours. In order to make time for the gym, I started going in the morning. And in order to make time to practice, I started staying later at night. So it's been a looooooong week.

It felt productive though. My boss spent almost the entire week at the factory, where everyone is making a big push to get through the final instrument repairs of the season. At the store, I was able to get caught up on things that I'd been neglecting, like putting instruments into our database, tagging them physically in the store, and listing them online for sale. My boss had bought us some book dividers, so I've printed labels for those and put them out. Plus I've been gradually doing general cleaning and inventory. The store is looking pretty good for rental season.

On Wednesday, it was fairly busy with customers coming and going. As I was working with a trombonist, taking his instrument in for repair and just talking shop, I heard someone starting to play trumpet in the other room. No surprise there, it's a music store. But after a bit I realized that they were playing Entry of the Gladiators. I thought, "Oh, ha-ha, circus music. How ironic," and kept working. And then as I finished I heard the opening lines of the "Circus Xtreme" actual show music...my eyes must have popped out of my head!

I ran into the other room. It was Bill! Our trumpet player for the last two-or-so years on the circus. His girlfriend's family lives nearby, and they were passing through on a visit and decided to stop in. I was so glad they did! We spent some time catching up. Bill's doing well, although he and I both agreed that since most shows are touring without brass these days it's hard to find work. Bill is a really strong jazz player and is thinking of his options around Kansas City. I promised that if he moves here, I'll send connections his way. Anyway it was an awesome visit, totally made my day! Thanks Bill and Elizabeth!!

The rest of the week was straightforward. on Friday I had planned to practice, but ended up going home instead. I was just too tired, and there was so much to do that had been neglected while I practiced during the week. Laundry, cleaning, cooking, groceries, etc. I did as much of that as possible on Friday night. I have no life.

Saturday, I was at work for four hours. It was raining very hard, and it was a slow day. I made it my goal to inventory all of the slatwall accessories, and got 3/4 of the way finished, but as always more customers show up five minutes before closing than throughout the day altogether. Why is that? Anyway I helped the folks that came in, then went home. Again, I had wanted to practice but there was just too much else to do.

There was a little emotional turmoil this week as well, though maybe it's too personal and I shouldn't be mentioning it. Oh well. Jameson and I had a long talk, about what we're doing, our relationship, how we'll get back together. At this point Jameson is well settled into his new job. He enjoys it, and is getting more work (and $) coming his way as a result. He's also got gigs on the side. In other words, everything is in place...except me.

We talked about the future and what needed to be done, and by the end of the conversation I think we were much more determined to see each other again soon. The funny thing was, the whole conversation was carried out via text. I have to say, you know you've got something special when you can convey complex feelings via text without anyone getting offended or giving the wrong impression. But anyway, I was glad to talk about us, get some things cleared up, and know that we're both working toward seeing each other again!

On Sunday I had volunteer time at the Nature Center. Before heading in, I nervously practiced making the falconer's knot. I seem to get it right only 50% of the time, and was trying to figure out why. 3D concepts have never been my strong suit. Finally I got to the point where I could make one 75% of the time. Yay.

(this picture is from work...because I was practicing it at work during lunch...)

When I arrived at the center, I was dismayed to see a giant pile of dirty laundry. The washer had broken. That's a serious problem for a place like this, that needs clean towels at all times. All of the volunteers were in the "baby room"...there are tons of baby squirrels and such right now, and they all need to be fed and checked on frequently. I decided to grab some laundry and wash it at my apartment complex. You guys have NO idea how much bleach it takes to get all the gross stuff off of these towels.

While doing laundry I noticed this luna moth sitting in the driveway. Isn't he beautiful?

I moved him to a safe place.

After dropping the clean towels off, I went back to the apartment to clean up, because there was a trombone concert locally! I was invited by local trombonist Dave Cooper, who used to play for Carson & Barnes circus back when that was a hot gig. Slick, the trumpet player that I got to work with for several years at Ringling, used to play with C&B as well, so we had a mutual friend. The concert was excellent, especially considering it had been "thrown together" as Dave described it. There were probably twenty or so trombonists, and they sounded great in the church where the concert was held.

Afterward I stuck around to thank Dave and meet some local trombonists, then headed home. For some reason I just feel like I can't get anything done lately...not sure if it's the new work hours, or what. I cooked some turkey meat, ate lunch, typed this post up, then did some cleaning. Then I had to do a little research for an upcoming project, and then I spent some time freaking out about my gig on Wednesday. I am so nervous. I am kicking myself for not going to one of the band's shows, especially since I won't get to rehearse. I just hope these are patient people and that I don't ruin the gig for them.

Usually when I write this, I write a little bit every day so as not to forget what happened during the week.

Um...this week I didn't do that.

Let's see. Monday, work. Tuesday, work.
We are getting ready for rental season, so there's an influx of student instruments. A local string teacher came in on Tuesday so we made sure to have our string instruments and accessories in order for her to see what we offer. She and Kristy (woodwind tech) had met before, so they hit it off, talking about teacher-y stuff while I listened and worked on inventory. The visit went well and by the end of it I had a list of even more accessories to order for her students :)
On Tuesday I went to the gym.

Wednesday, work. Thursday, work.
Thursday was a "special" day from the moment I opened my eyes. I woke tense and tired, as there had been a huge thunderstorm the night before. Turned on the light in the bathroom and threw back the shower curtain, and there was a HUGE brown recluse in the tub. If I had been more awake I might have grabbed my phone and taken a picture. He looked like this (but wasn't carrying any cash ;) ):

I thought, "Ok, I'll just wash him down the drain." I turned on the water...
...and the shower head cracked right down the middle, shooting water in all directions.

What a great start to the day!!!

I squashed the spider (tough luck bro) and got a pseudo shower without a shower head. Then I drove to the city courthouse to try and get some paperwork for my Missouri Driver's License and vehicle registration. You need a tax non-assessment to register your car in this state. To get that, I thought that you needed to provide a lease, a utility bill with your address on it, and two forms of ID. What I ACTUALLY needed was leases from the past three years, utility bills from the past three years, vehicle registrations from the past three years, and two forms of ID.

This was a problem, because I've been on tour for the past five years. I had no utility bills and no lease. My brother was driving my car. Most of my mail had my employer's address on it, because that's where I was living, not my parent's PA address. I tried asking about alternative documents (Taxes? Stuff with my employer's address?) and was told that these would not be acceptable.

.....um. How am I supposed to register my car??

Next week I will call some government offices and see if there's a solution.

The rest of the day went normally. I had planned to go to the gym again, but we had a barrage of customers right at closing time, so I got out late. Starting next week we're going to have later hours to accommodate rental season.

Friday was a pretty good day, I felt like I got a lot done. I placed an order for more string accessories, drew up a tentative order for some method books, sold a trombone that we'd just gotten in the store 48 hours earlier, and input lots of instrument repair orders for us to bill out. My boss had given me some chicken stew over mashed potatoes, made by his brother who is an excellent cook. Yay free lunch! After work I went to the gym, then got groceries.

This weekend was a bit busy. In the morning I listed some instruments on eBay for a circus friend who is selling some of his belongings. At the same time I boiled eggs and pasta for the week ahead. At some point in there I heard a minor ruckus out on the porch. When I went to investigate I found two male hummingbirds duking it out over the feeder. They were so intent on each other that they hardly noticed me.

Mean little dudes!

After lunch I decided to revisit a local community college to see if I could find practice rooms. I had tried last week, but went to the wrong building...the practice rooms were in a office building across campus. This time I went there, and soon found them. There are only four. These signs were on the door:

In other words, they do actually allow non-music personnel to use the facilities. That's nice! Looking at the sign-up sheets, I saw that most of them end around 4:30. That's good, as I'd probably be there either super early or super late. With this, maybe I can start practicing again.

I had intended to practice that day, but decided against it as I had errands to run. I took my car to get an oil change at one of those places that are supposed to be quick, and was disappointed to end up waiting about an hour. Not only that, they didn't have a waiting room because their turnaround is supposed to be fast enough that you don't have to even get out of your car. So I sat in my car and fidgeted for an hour. Not fun.
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Monday was a pretty good day. I arrived at work on time, and got a lot done before my boss got in that day. Placed several orders, got a lot of school instruments polished and cleaned, that sort of stuff. Way cool. But the coolest thing? My boss, the one and only Brett Barlow, was in town and made time to visit!! I was so happy!!

As you can see he still hates having his picture taken :P

Neither of us had a lot of time. He had to keep driving for another ten hours to get home, while I had a limited lunch break. But we got caught up as best we could, and I gotta say, I was just happy to see him. He brought me some chocolate pumpkin loaves made by his wife, Theresa. These are seriously The Best. They're so good that when Theresa would bring these out to the circus, anyone lucky enough to receive one would bite it immediately to prevent others from eating it!!

Brett and I had lunch at Burnt End. My first KC BBQ since moving here. It was very good! I wasn't a fan of the cucumber salad compared to Dinosaur BBQ, but the ends were legit!

We talked about the circus, and life after, and how everyone is doing. Brett's working to get his real estate license, and will have to take a test for that next month (he'll do awesome). In the meantime he is doing a lot of work around the house, and is getting used to wearing bifocals. Sitting in that BBQ joint with him, it felt like we were back on the road, grabbing a bite before preshow.

After our meal he drove me back to work, and we parted ways. See you again soon, I hope!
After work I stayed late to practice, but once again was interrupted by people showing up thinking we close at 6. So I'm on the hunt for somewhere else to practice.

Tuesday sucked. I don't feel like being cute about it, it was awful. We got the update on Orest (circus crew boss, strongman) and the news just gets worse and worse. Not only did he have a massive stroke, when doctors cut him open they also found a brain tumor. There is little hope for his recovery. Partway through the day I saw a post on facebook, in broken english, that seemed to say Orest had passed away. I shared this information, only to be corrected a few hours later. Very embarrassing, but I'm glad I was wrong.

In addition to that, there was some sort of snafu down at the factory that my boss had to go handle, and it involved looking up documents from long before I worked here. These documents involved a skill that I am not trained in and have no job experience with (trust me, I've checked my resume and LinkedIn and memory extensively to make sure I haven't misled anyone). As the issue compounded, I became more and more frustrated with my inability to complete this facet of my job. On top of that, there were some weirder-than-usual customer issues that just made the day harder. In the end my boss decided to bring some folks down from the factory to train me, which I was really, really grateful for.

So on Wednesday I was greeted by Charles (Director of Sales) and Dirk (Education Rep), both of whom used to do the work that I'm now doing. We had a little pow-wow, and Charles took the time to spell everything out for me. Literally, writing step-by-step instructions. I would rather have someone spell things out for me like I'm an idiot than do a poor job. Thankfully these guys were willing to take the time; not every employer would. I'm looking forward to getting this part of my job duties right.

The rest of Wednesday was pretty uneventful. It was very hot out, with a heat index of 105. After work I went to the gym, then home.

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Monday got off to a heat advisory start. It would be very toasty all week, with advisories through Wednesday.

We are starting to talk about rental season stuff at work, including how to rearrange the "showroom" to accommodate both rental instruments and the influx of step-up/used instruments we expect to get. Anything new is exciting to me.

After work on Monday I was supposed to practice and go to the gym, but I got off to a late start practicing and was interrupted by a customer partway through, so called it quits in frustration. To be honest, it's difficult to practice right now. Rehashing the same old scales and etudes is just no fun after a while. Circus music is more engaging and more of a workout, but style-wise isn't really relevant to anything as far as I know. It's just hard to be motivated when there's nothing on the horizon, or nothing specific to work toward.

En route to the gym I realized I'd forgotten to hit Walmart in the morning for tupperware and cheap workout headphones, so thought I'd run over there quick and grab these before exercising. But of course, in the evening everyone is at Walmart, and checking out took much longer than expected. Exasperated, I gave up yet again. I went to the Asian grocery and looked around for a bit, then went home and ate a bunch of cookies. Whatever, don't judge. All my clothes still fit, m'kay.

On Tuesday, Dirk (education rep) came in and did most of the rearranging in our showroom. Together he and Matt and I lifted the heavy service desk and pulled it forward, then Dirk got to work fixing up some of the slatwall that had come loose from the wall through the years. Once that was done, it was safe to move some instruments around. Matt also gave me a bunch of instruments to be put up and listed, none of which I got to do because there were other things that needed attention.

On Wednesday I got to meet the owner of BAC, Greg. Just to keep things straight, Mike Corrigan is the founder, and Greg is the owner. The company right now is sort of split between all of its parts: the custom instruments/repairs/factory, the sales/rental/repairs store, and the rentals/Rent My Instrument .com. We talked a bit about how we might bring all of those facets together, then Greg and Matt went to lunch.

On Thursday Matt was only in the store for a little bit, as he had to go to the factory to help with repairs and such. Kristy and I got a lot done, but I would have liked to have put more instruments up for sale. That can be a part of next week.

On Friday, Charles (Web Designer, Director of Sales) called looking for his pen, which had mysteriously gone missing. Logically, it had to be at the retail store, 45 minutes away from the factory. There ya go Charles, I mentioned you in my blog! How's that for free marketing! ;) Lol. Seriously though, Charles is the person I call most often when I have questions about our POS and other functions that I've not been trained in yet am expected to know. He's a cool dude. Thank you as always, Charles :)

This week turned out to be a wash practice- and gym-wise. It seemed like every time I wanted to practice, there was some interruption, whether it was a customer who thought we were open until 6, or a phonecall, or an unexpected charge on my bill (I'm looking at you, Laclede Gas/Missouri Gas Energy). I went to the gym only once all week, and though I had good intentions for the rest of the week, I was just not feeling anything this week at all. Zero motivation.

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On Monday, I spent the morning helping my Mom to take some food to a friend who'd been in a motorcycle accident (my Mom has bada$$ friends apparently). After that we had lunch at a Chinese buffet. It's been forever since I've eaten at one of these...first of all, I can't eat much in one sitting, and secondly Jameson tends to have salt intolerance reactions with such food. But man, I really love Chinese buffets!! I love all the crazy Americanized foods. Cream cheese egg custards and mystery meat-stuffed mushrooms, and those insanely crispy green beans! And of course that weird "ice milk" ice cream to finish the meal. I enjoyed trying everything and spending time with my Mom!

After our meal we made our way back to the house, where I packed my things and said goodbye. Driving back was much easier as there was less holiday traffic. I made good time, stopping outside Indianapolis for the night.

I got up early on Tuesday morning, and after a straight nine hours of driving, made it home. I was so tired and in such a driving daze, but had to unpack all of my things! I unloaded my bass trombone, a box of knick knacks and memories from childhood, various important documents, and a huge box of books (that was the hardest). After dragging everything up three flights of stairs, I wanted to rest! But after a quick lunch I was at it again, unpacking and sorting everything.

When everything was put away, I cleaned up, got a shower, and went the heck to bed! I drove 30+ hours to be with my family for just a day and a half. It was very worth it, but I was tired!

Wednesday, back to work! There was so much to do. Holidays are great, playing catch-up is not. We were all very busy. I sold two trombones! After work I skipped the gym to get groceries and pick up a bookshelf for all of those books I'd brought home.

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Monday was fine. The weather was still weird, cloudy and a brisk 70ish degrees for most of the day. Made me wish for fall.

I was fairly productive, and we had a lot of customers throughout the day. Even if few bought anything, there were many scoping out horns to buy, and I hope to see some of those folks back in again.

We got a pretty awesome surprise: the owner of the company is giving us not only the 4th of July off, but also the 3rd!! This means that I'll have time to visit the people I love!!!

Of course I tried Jameson first, but he is not so lucky and has to work that whole weekend. And of course knowing that I had time off made him feel bad about not being free himself. Oh long distance! What a bummer! But I understand. I don't think I would like it if I had to work all weekend, and he came to see me, but I had to work for the majority of the time. I mean if after a year we still haven't seen each other, I'm willing to scrape together whatever time is available. But for now we are still trying to have Actual Time Together at some point. We'll get it :)

Next I poked my family, and it looks like I'll be able to go home for a short visit! Because it's a holiday weekend, flights are pretty ridiculous! So I will probably be driving. This will also allow me to pick up some things from home to bring back to KC. I'm really looking forward to seeing my family!!!

Tuesday was kind of a bummer, Kristy and my boss and I all agreed. Just one of those days where you can't get ahead, for every one thing you try to finish five more demand your attention until you're ending the day with more work than you started with. Sheesh. I skipped the gym and went home early to pack a bit.

Wednesday and Thursday were both good days, I felt productive more or less. Thursday started off with a thunderstorm first thing in the morning, I was surprised to wake up to total darkness, and then it started pouring.

There was a flash flood warning. I got to work fine but there was a pretty large puddle on the sidewalk right outside our door. Kristy made a boat and "sailed" it.

Our boss was out for the day with meetings and such, so Kristy and I were on our own. We listened to 90s music while she repaired flutes and I inventoried method books. We had very few customers, probably because of the holiday weekend coming up. After work I stayed to practice a bit, and left when my boss showed up to unload some instruments. From there I went to the gym, then home to finish packing and make sure I had everything in order for the drive to PA.

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This week was off to a much better start.

I was able to get a lot of work done on Monday. While several people seemed interested in buying various instruments I'd listed online, no one has actually pulled the trigger yet. Oh well. Just gotta be patient!

Partway through the day I got a call for my first gig! Trevor (local trombonist and BAC employee) sent this gig my way as it was initially offered to him but he was unable to take it due to scheduling. Looks like it's going to be a Phil Collins tribute band. Fun!

So on Monday I skipped practicing, because I'd only brought my large bore horn to the store and wanted to start back up with the small bore for this gig. I went to the gym instead. During my workout there was a passing thundershower, and when I stepped outside I was greeted by this vibrant rainbow. Wow!

From there I drove home and had a nice relaxing night, watching Katanagatari while listening in on my boyfriend giving music classes online. I enjoy hearing his voice and am glad he lets me "audit"!

Tuesday was also good. I was in front of the computer a lot, but there are things that really need to be done before rental season starts. Like inventory, and ordering products that we'll need for the school year. It's an interesting experience for me to be doing these processes in a smaller store. At Music & Arts, inventory systems were already in place and the ordering of rental equipment/accessories was mostly handled by a different branch of the company. Here at BAC with just fifteen employees, everyone seems to play a role in gathering the necessities.

I spent a lot of time Tuesday counting all of the reeds in the store and manually adding them into the ongoing POS inventory. At the same time, I used the information gathered while doing inventory to create an ordering spreadsheet that will hopefully make it easier for us to place orders with our suppliers. At the same time, there are many products in the store that do not yet exist in the POS or are incomplete entries, still needing SKUs or pictures or correct pricing. So as I was doing inventory and creating an order spreadsheet I was also updating product information in the POS. It may seem tedious, but come rental season I think we'll really appreciate the ease of having all of this at our fingertips. And when inventory is done, I think I'll be proud to have contributed to a large chunk of BAC infrastructure.

After work I stuck around to practice, but didn't go to the gym (opposite of Monday). Playing through scales and traditional method books was kind of "meh", and I didn't feel that it was good prep for the tribute band gig, so I decided to try something else on Wednesday. After practicing I locked up the store, hit the grocery for some little things, and went home to listen to Phil Collins and take notes. Non-musicians may not realize this, but a lot of work goes into pre-gig preparation. What's the sound you're going for? How long is each piece, and how much playing will I be doing? What's the visual style of the band? What equipment will I need besides my instrument and charts? How will I need to breathe, or articulate, or sustain? What did the composer want? And on and on. And yeah, this is my first KC gig and I want to do a good job :)

Wednesday at work, nothing special. I got a lot done. After work I stayed at the building to practice.

( Read more... )

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Page generated Jun. 24th, 2025 04:39 am

goofball on a train

(adventures of a touring musician)

Entries tagged with kansas city

Tootsie Yr2: Kansas City, MO (KCMO)

Tootsie on Tour: Kansas City (KCMO)

Last Days in KC

Far Far Away

Slapdash

Feedback

Taking Care of Business

October

Karma

Boring, do not read.

Shadows and Floods

Last Days of Summer

Car Crisis, Work Week

Time Crunch

Cute Animal Media If Nothing Else

Overlapping Worlds

Reason for Being

Hot Stuff in July

Surprise Trip Home

Bits and Pieces

Profile

June 2025

Syndicate

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