You know me, King of Guitar-firers, and I fired one tonight. Sadly, the new guy Allan, did not work out. He was more interested in “having fun” than the steady hard work that is required for a fast startup. He kept making excuses about what he could not do because he could not work a computer. If you can’t use a computer, you write the words out by hand, you tape the music, or you buy the sheets. Ain’t no babysitters around here. Here’s a silhouette picture of us playing old material from last week instead of moving on to new material like we were supposed to.
If he played in a group before, it must have taken years to get off the ground, time I do not have. Basically, he showed up empty-handed after a week, and still had not learned the circle of fifths. When we moved a song from G to A, he had to relearn the chord pattern. Now he is holding up my band, something I just don't need right now. (I was to find out later this type of basic difficulty was rather common in the musicians in South Florida.)He also tried to set up the situation where he brings a CD, like we are forming his backup band. Somebody else, I guess, sets up the computer, and printer, with drivers and applications and ink and paper, buys blank disks, installs the software, rips it, burns it, transcribes the lyrics, word processes them, and when that is all done, and gets back to him. Sure, Allan.
The agreement is, and this is not negotiable, in every band I play with, the person who wants to introduce a new song must show up with the lyrics (a copy for everybody), music (in compatible format) and chord charts (in the original key). It is hard work because it is supposed to be, for it is designed to get rid of the “having fun” bunch. Allan, acted like he was doing me a favor, and got antsy when reminded that he was joining a band, not recruiting one. I’ve put in over three hours since last week, he had not put in five minutes.
The part I especially liked was how he mentioned he was driving here from Pompano like it was a great sacrifice. Really? Am I supposed to be, er, dead grateful? I guess my band equipment gets hauled around and set up for free just so he can practice the same things over and over? Maybe I could burn him a CD to practice to? I just feel that letting him go now allows the band to focus on what we set out to do.
I believe Cowboy Mike and I can present a good Blues show without a third, and we should not change anything until we have a working band. If he feels we don’t have enough material, learn more. I’ve learned and played every last song he has suggested, and I’m as busy as anyone else. All this is a reminder that very few bands in this area have ever had a manager. They wing everything and the amount of progress shows it. We have not learned any new tunes in two weeks because nobody is in charge.
Sales at the Thrift were brisk today, a lot of credit card sales. I’m getting far more cautious about who is in the store. This utterly gorgeous lady, new in town, (careful, they all say that and so do I) was in for nearly an hour. Better looking than the last, and blonder too. She is living on a boat and wants an apartment. It is a forty-foot boat, so around the size of this place. She reports it is either too hot or too cold, and is small enough to shift when you walk around.
We have a tentative date for Thursday. She is not working, but I am and I’ve got lots to do this week. Tomorrow is the only evening free but I didn’t want to appear anxious, mainly because I am not. She is over forty, so I am in no hurry. She reminds me of Julie, but so do all attractive women that age. Smooth legs, and she is a member of the fitness center next door. (It obviously didn't work out, since I have no recollection of this broad ten years later.)
Two California guys came in and bought some vintage dresses. One of them used an expression new to me, “Wife-beater”, in relation to an article of clothing. This is, I am informed, the slang term for a sleeveless t-shirt. Otherwise, they spent most of the time remarking that all the dresses were for “skinny women”.
I called Metro PCS about my cell phone cutting out. They said that sometimes that is the result of the way their equipment is programmed, and reset it. I am to call back in a week if the problem persists, for they can also reprogram the phone itself. I was unaware that this could be part of the dropout problem. I sincerely doubt the person I talked to would have led me astray, as she was really trying to be helpful. She mentioned that my suggestion of a phone that could be programmed to reject calls at the user level had made it to their head office. Months ago.
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