A while back I’d heard of this type of advertising. A huge LED panel mounted on the side of a truck box. Heralded as a great way to get attention for the temporary, I rejected the idea due to my new found knowledge of how expensive these display panels can be. Here you see it, parked on private property. I can’t see making a dollar at it. Let’s watch for other examples but until then it seems like one of those ideas that looks good on paper. Sorry about the lousy quality, this is a still from a video.
Ray-B was over today to drop off a recording device. I read half the manual before realizing I don’t have any firewire connections on the new computer. I’ll work on that next day; we jammed bass and guitar for over an hour. He has incorporated some Alabama hits I don’t recognize other than hearing the choruses on the juke box. Ray-B has jammed with the keyboard player I met last week and says the guy can play a mean trumpet. Ray-B says the new Ibanez guitar passes muster. I’ve got some long hours to put in getting my show ready for his guitar riffs. He says that tune “Party Till The Money Runs Out” is a natural for my voice, says it is my “money song”. I have not yet found my natural vocal range so I put attach significant weight to his opinion about that. I now think that unless one is born talented, and I know such people, that singing requires time that I have not yet put in. Time that goes beyond memorizing lyrics and staying on key. I do not have any legacy of doing such a thing.
We gabbed about pension plans and I think he is right that there is something unstable about the whole school teacher retirement funding. I advised he take a very close look at both the clauses of his contract and the financial statements of where this money is invested. I expect I’d feel more trusting if the profession actually produced anything, some tangible inventory.
A series of “not in service” recordings tells me the places I’ve been calling for printed circuit supplies have all closed up or moved on. Not a single supplier left in the area that is easy to find. These are industrial parts so somebody’s got them. The question is the price. I don’t want to have to buy a 55 gallon drum when I just need a couple quarts.
Next off, I talked to JJ, the new keyboard player. He sure does like to play that slow muck that causes so many people to absolutely hate country music. “Help Me Make It Through The Night” and “Green Green Grass Of Home” are surefire ways slip the audience a Mickey Finn. But I know the tunes. My concern is that when he played most of what I knew, he did not follow the original covers very accurately, which would place an immense burden on me to custom memorize how he does every song. And worse, that effort detracts from being able to play the same tune with any other band should we have a falling out.
It is how well he learns my half of the music that will be the clincher. Although I may play added verses and throw in repeats, all the musical rules are obeyed. I don’t just groove off into some unknown version of anything. But in this case, it means I may fake anything he doesn’t play true to the original and my material will stand out all the better. It’s a big undertaking with many unknowns. He is a trumpet player that explains why he does so many songs in Bb and Eb, keys not at all compatible with the electric bass.
I read the business section today. Yet another of those interminable articles that business owners can’t find good help. I think I can diagnose their problem by looking at the list of what they want. It says they seek someone who has an expanding skill set, is self-sufficient, a good communicator, computer savvy and is a team player willing to put in the long hours to make the business succeed. Am I missing something here?
What part of “employee” don’t they understand? Does the concept of “sucker” have any meaning to these people? What else? Possibly he wants you to polish his boots and then let him kick you a few times to see if they fit right? I’ve had a few Nazi sick-brain employers like that in my lifetime and it looks like they still crawl out of the dirt pile.
The job suppliers do have the upper hand for now, but how about a list of what I would like to see in a business owner? I’d like one who realizes the business risk is entirely his, not mine, and hires me to do a specific job at a specific rate of pay. I show up, I do my job, I leave, and I don’t think about the job again until the alarm rings the next morning. He hires a janitor to sweep the floor; that is not my problem when the boss fails to line up enough work for the day.
If he wants an expanding skill set, let him explain to me how he is going to pay for it. Since I don’t get a partnership share of the profits I’ll need some other motive to learn anything, and I expect to be paid more once I do. School is work, too, in case he hasn’t heard. If I was self-sufficient, I would not be working for somebody else, so get that right once and for all, Bubba. If you want a good communicator, that’s clerical work so hire a secretary. And as far as putting in the long hours, pal, that is why they invented time and a half after eight hours, double time after ten. The slaves were freed 150 years ago, so get over it.
Another laugh is that often-aired commercial on the movie channel every rainy afternoon. The one where the counselor explains that it is not really bad people who get into credit card debt, heaven forbid. Whoever would think something nasty like that? Why, these are just ordinary folks who ride their Lawn-Boy and catch a game or two on the flat screen. The counselor says the real cause is wicked things like job loss and unexpected expenses. No shit, Sherlock.
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