One year ago today: May 23, 2018, day 174.
Five years ago today: May 23, 2014, distantly related.
Nine years ago today: May 23, 2010, they had great A/C.
Random years ago today: May 23, 2013, possible tariff victim.
We cannot get a repairman until tomorrow and it was 85°F inside the house today. Me and the pets are laid out in a cone of space determined by all the fans in the building focused on the living room. This morning was one short walk, as I have instructions regarding how much the dogs are allowed to pant. And the evening walk was cancelled completely. There are no cools spots outside, so the best shade was inside. Here’s Pvt. Sparky in front of the fan, taking my spot.
The experts, as they fancy themselves, say 30% of American manufacturing jobs will be impacted by robotics in the upcoming ten years. Even if they are partially right, it’s going to be the drudge jobs. That means there will be no going back to where it was before. I’d go so far as to suggest the reason we are not already in robotics mode is due to the flood of products from overseas produced in near slave-labor conditions. Thanks to Jimmy Carter, the education system became a state monopoly. The result is today only half of 16 to 24 year olds can find New York State on a map.
They were taught more useful life skills, such as Grammer, The History of Cell Phone Apps, Siding with Indigenous Peoples, and the all-important YouTube for Fun & Profit. Them damn verbs didn’t need to be conjugaled anywho.
Vanilla farm in June. (Bali)
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What? You say I should ask the staff? Are you daft? Have you ever tried to find a staff person, or what do they call ‘em, associates? I mean when you need one. You think I’m going to stand there while one of them calls corporate headquarters instead of just walking into the back to see if they have any 8s? Sure enough, the only associate you’ll get is the one with the bucket on his way to a code 5 in aisle 6. Like Lowe’s, they are probably instructed to never say they just plain do not know.
Today, for food, we had Texas pork pie. Chicken next time, it’s a favorite. This time, we had the real deep-dish version, simmered until the broth is gone. The best version is the on-line Martha Stewart recipe, though I skip the cloves. A hint of dill instead, I mean, this isn’t Thanksgiving. This is the brand you freeze instead of add corn starch to make it firm up. If you want pics of the finished product, then wait. It takes nearly four hours to do this one right.
ADDENDUM
And here’s my stunt double strolling away from the tree in last day’s picture. You should know by now a lot of the posed photos are, well, posed. At least I choose photogenic people, and I keep the cat pictures to a minimum. I think you can tell which of the pictures are the real deal because, there is just some stuff you cannot pose. And stick around, from what fragments of information that actually flow my direction, there may be a trip to Kentucky in the works. I don’t think I’ve been in Kentucky since 1999. I didn’t like it much.
It’s not a factor here, but 20% of the songs were on my no-play list, (music I will not even allow to be played inside my house). (Mainly Clapton, Young, & Petty.) Hey, if Willie Nelson got on stage, why I’d even play “Hotel California”. But short of that, I consider such music to be Korean torture. The list is stereotypical enough to indicate the band may also have challenges keeping guitar players. I can see it, [how] every wanker shows up thinking he’s found his promised land, that mythical ready-made backup band with a chick singer just awaiting his finishing touch. Trust me, I know all about guitar players when they find out they will never be the star of the show. They become like the tooth fair, except they steal the quarter.
On the plus side, the band is advertised on BandMix, which caters to stand-ins. For me, that would work. I stand in only the times I’m in town. Further research shows their current bass player is 68 years old, and I think he’s lying through his false teeth. They have a chick singer on keyboards, and who do we know who specializes in chick singers? I combed their live videos for one vital strategic trait, and they’ve got it. They are tight, tight, tight on stage without a soundman. I like it, since just being in Nashville clamps down on 99% of the sheer bullsh you get otherwise.
This group has been around. They are professionally managed by an attorney who owns some type of music-related business. We talked on the phone for ten minutes and he knows his stuff. He’s also dead serious about wanting to hear me play based on the short clips I sent as attachments. That would include the big band I played back in Hollywood. It’s virtually the same format, but with a better song mix and musicians who actually like to play out.
I guessed right, this group has been through 50 or 60 different players. If I can learn the material, I could be gigging in around two weeks. What do you think? The “base salary” is around twice what I already live on, so don’t rule out a thing. It is much to early to predict a thing, but the band’s manager called me for my regular contact information. Yeah, yeah, it’s no big deal, but for me, playing on stage in Nashville in a real band would be the pinnacle of my musical career. Things like that, in my life at least, always happen to other people.
