One year ago today: September 20, 2018, $1,160 in licenses & fees
Five years ago today: September 20, 2014, the camera fault scam.
Nine years ago today: September 20, 2010, oh no, ‘peoplepoints’.
Random years ago today: September 20, xxxx, WIP
Welcome to my least favorite day of the year. The only good news is that my auto insurance finally dropped by $100 for a six month policy. I had some reports to file only to discover I’ve misplace one of my business folders. It is backup day, and took four hours to make a complete copy of my entire computer system. I’m almost afraid to one day go find how may duplicates are in there. Here’s a nice scene of my newest potted plants getting their first day in the sunshine. By mid-morning I was back in Winter Haven doing my best to meet some deadlines. That took long enough that I still don’t have my pole saw.
The man knows his comfort level, so I don’t mind if he does the shopping. For those of you into the planet, today is official coastal cleanup day. I’d go help but my toe still hurts, y’know. I mean, it’s not like I’m the one who dirtied up the coast in the first place.
Moments later, Alaine calls, it looks like JZ may be serious this time. I don’t make a habit of projections (journals are supposed to be historical) but should he show, this will likely not be much of a holiday. I have seven projects on hold because they require a second man, and that includes a single spar or beam under the kitchen to level that entire section in one shot. I’ve got fence posts that need setting and plumbing work and he knows he’s behind in the shared work department.
The trick is to keep him away from Miami as long as possible once he arrives, I have the full support of everyone on that count. I remain convinced the biggest factor for my pal is that he has nothing to do in that city. I’ll find him things to do and when he isn’t busy, the nearest casino is out in Tampa, I think. I’ve got a shelter going in, and a privacy fence. Another factor is we are only an hour away from Alaine, who loves company and is a pro chef. She also volunteers with that famous pet shelter, you can find pics somewhere in this blog. I’ll call tomorrow to see if there are any upcoming events.
Hong Kong.
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I like having coffee in Winter Haven, they have six locations that serve great brew. That was my only break of the day, so I did more research on what there is to do in the Appalachians. One extreme positive for the Biltmore is that insane as their prices are, they publish them. For the most part, other businesses don’t, which makes planning a chore. It’s sad that mentality has become web page standard. By and large, Americans don’t like to talk turkey until after they know the asking price. Instead, the wired-in generation takes on the tactics of used car salesmen. Which surprises nobody.
Oh look, there’s my new yard ornament. Agt. R wisely picked out the best unit and here it is, providing a roost or something. He’s supposed to drop by tomorrow and help me trim more branches. Instead, I’ll corner him into helping me buy the right pole saw. He advises against the gas powered one because they use a fuel mix. They have to be drained after each use or it coagulates. I would have thought if there was one item you needed to be gas powered, it would be a chain saw. Any foul weather and the electric is first to go.
My red cardinals have not been seen, but they are around. News from Tennessee says JeePee is daily spending more time outdoors than he has in some years. My records include the costs of items like building his new cage ($68.55) so it is easy for me to put Tennessee and Florida side-by-side. My entertainment budget, still my largest category shows that I’ve spent less than half the amount as earlier years. That makes sense, I’ve spent half this year in Tennessee. Making no promises, but did you know we could spend a night at the Biltmore cabin ($1,700) and still come in under budget. Whoa, whoa, I’m just sayin’.
On the way home, I saw a band I know loading gear so I stopped in. The piano player gave me his card, saying he needs a bassist for other gigs he has going on. Then, some utterly gorgeous lady with a perfect figure starts shying up to me. The hip nudge, the boob bump, the bum brush. I’m like, lady, find somebody your own age with money. But she insists we met two years ago, the only other time I’ve been in this place. I apologized to hell. Still, I can’t place her and you’d think I’d remember a body like that. Perfect. Oh well, say lah-vee. Now, if I can only find what I did with that business card.
ADDENDUM
I found the Tweetsie Railroad, but that just made me wonder if there isn’t some better non-driving tour. The Tweetsie is part of a larger amusement park setting and I’m not into family bunches as they can get pushy. There are stage gunfights and such, which reminds me of my unfulfilled career choice. Didn’t I ever tell you I wanted to play a particular movie roll? What? You forgot? Okay, here it is again. You know those Navy SEAL teams and Special Forces type movies? How they rehearse an operation for months and years in advance? Yeah, but when they jump out of the airplane, there is always this guy by the door yelling, “Go! Go! Go!”
That is the job for me. I would have excelled. Who knows the heights I could have taken that part. Keep dreaming, I say, because Nashville didn’t go great for me music-wise. Just my luck to have the most talented bassist in the township vying for the same slot I was. I’ll repeat it, I cannot compete with real talent. But that phony Guitar Center talent, that I can deal with. I’ve been running over the tunes again and I see one possible opening. I’m now fourth on the callout list, which means there is a good likelihood the other bassists are multi-banding.
That puts them in the same category as guitarists, a conflict of interest looking for a place to happen. There’s my attack point, the old understudy lucky break. There is going to be a point all three let down the band—and it was influential in my thinking that the band manager is not a musician. And that could be why he wisely has a number four bassist on his list. It’s also a situation where if he ever calls, it is likely to be something important. And I’m barely 42% ready with the core list. It’s fun music, but over the years, there is only so much I can cover in a given day.
