One year ago today: June 2, 2023, ladders, everywhere.
Five years ago today: June 2, 2019, free coffee.
Nine years ago today: June 2, 2015, every possible idiot-setting.
Random years ago today: June 2, 2007, remember Pudding-Tat?
Interesting and expected, Ticketmaster admits it kept all buyer’s private information on file. I know, because I once tried to buy a ticket from them and was appalled by the amount of information they wanted, they even asked for a social security number. This was back when fools gave it out as ID. I balked and never had a thing to do with Ticketmaster since, I believe that was way back in 1981. The point is, I smelled a rat on the spot, the rest of America did not appear to suspect a thing.
Tell you what, let’s get in the van and drive downtown Lakeland. I’ve lived nine miles from there for a decade and only been there maybe five times. There is a Books-A-Million in Lakeside Village, another place I’ve teen only once and they were closed. We’ll find some kind of adventure today. True, so far I’ve written two letters, update this blog, played bass, made cheese grits with onions, taken pot-shots at some papayas, planned a route through Signal Mountain, Tennessee, read a documentary, and set out traps for the latest smart rat. But those are routine for me, I want new adventures. And remind me to mail those letters.
True Irish immigration poll.
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Be patient, this afternoon will all tie together in a bit. Another text arrives from the Legion for details such as the band name and membership, this is beginning to match the formula I created years ago, but this source is a surprise. Of the 14 places I had picked, 11 went under, 2 quit hiring, and 1 (Kooters) would not take a chance on us. In a sense I consider myself a good band manager because other bands are managed so badly, but this situation does not stem from my research. Other than making the contact, this gig came from right out of the blue. I’m still waiting for word from my guitar player who is 1,500 miles away.
A few years after that, my lady cop guitar player quit, the fool. Since then, I’ve been down Combee road, but always in the wrong lane to pull into the Bazaar, the big bookstore mentioned here in 2018. But I heard they had changed hands and the old staff was now downtown, now called the “Inkling”. I liked the name so I went to find the place. I can’t find places downtown, but since I’m in the entertainment business, I often hear about clubs I’ve never been. One such place is Swan City Brewing. It must be nice, since I hear people mentioning it, but I could not point to it on a map.
Likewise, I could not find Inkling until I spotted it on the wrong lane again. What is it with me and wrong lanes? I had to make a left turn to go around the block. Around the first corner, I found myself passing the very same motel that cost JZ and I a hundred bucks. If you go just past it around the corner and make another left, guess what is there? In fact, if the hotel had not been so careful to make sure we got a room with no windows on that side, you would find the Swan City Brewery. Largest live rock band venue in the county. Why are motel staff such AOLs?
Later, I put $65 of Biden gas in the van and drove over to Kooters. I know lots of people there. On the way, I had Ray-B on the speaker. He declined to stop for a few, still suffering badly from the screeching his ear. Strange how Nature seems to target a person’s attributes that way. Even though Ray-B and I are at opposite ends of our demographic, that is twenty years difference, we are both from the last generation of American men who were expected to solve their own problems. So he does not talk about the condition. Yet we know he is a pro musician and this affliction has put him out of business. He had to move back home, so he can’t even complain, you know how that goes.
But today we talked about the severity of the sound. Eight months ago he had a bout of the flu and that’s when it started. He’s been to all the experts. The best they’ve done is give him a hearing aid that masks with white sound. It’s pathetic how little progress has happened in this field. Ray-B mentions other people who tried killing the nerve, but now they are deaf and still the sound continues. To me, this is suspiciously like stress and I am more than wary of how insidious that can be and how helpless doctors turned out to be.
Since he is willing to try any cure, my solution to stress was to find hobbies that counter the sources. Ah, but in Ray-B we have another dude who kind of mostly nodded when I talked about getting such hobbies so long ago. Face it, when you are 40 you don’t like to much think about being 60. I’m saying he should try a variety of activities just to see, and pick things he has not done before. Not only would that get him out of the house, I well remember how quickly the numb feeling on my left side abated once I learned it was driving a car that stressed me out.
This was no miracle cure, to this day I still avoid driving in the city and at night, and roll down the windows a lot. There is another factor, in that he’s about to hit that major age barrier where he will blame himself for not finding a good woman. We’ve seen this how many times? No, it is not a simple matter. You know the good women are out there, but they fall into two groups: the taken and the unavailable. Here’s where my experience can do some good, you see, unless you are a real sucker for punishment, you are going to have to find something in that second group. And what worked when you were 18, 28, or 38 is not going to work now. The way I solved this issue was instead of meeting women, you put yourself in a situation where they want to meet you. If some of you say my hobbies like navigation and electronics don’t support my own theory, you may be overlooking a fact—I’ve learned the women are not out there.
I also know that of the best 40 women I’ve dated, I met 39 of them through music. Find my another hobby with those odds and I’ll try it. Even dancing does not work for me, but hold that thought. Compared to most men, judging by their own statements, I meet women all the time and everywhere. In other words, singing and dancing don’t work in isolation. I know a lot of men who don’t apply what they have. Look at JZ, he openly admits he didn’t learn to play drums because he did not want to make a fool of himself. Yeah, twenty years later he has not met a single good woman, so who is the fool? These guys do not understand the role of inadequacies when it comes to dealing with women. If they only knew she’d be glad to help out.
There’s more to this, but my suggestion to Ray-B is that he don’t go it alone. Music is not going to work for him because it has not already. We know he is not going to go looking on his own, I doubt he knows how. So, we do what women to, we work as a team. Now, he’s played the cruise ships long enough to learn there is a reason “single” women show up there. We got to get him up close to variety. So, I’ll leave you with that thought, but who remembers that line-dancing club I never got around to?
ADDENDUM
I never did believe that dementia was striking so many people so instantly. The onset seems maybe a week and they are gone. Now comes the latest news that some medical sources are calling it Type III diabetes. That would make a lot more sense. If it is diet and lifestyle related, then we know how that can accumulate for years and then flare. Since, like so many Americans, I have developed Type II, this has my attention big time.
This only means I’m watching. The link with Alzheimer’s was established over 15 years ago, but from what I read, it was also a result of a dozen factors. I don’t know about diseases or conditions with more than 3 or 4 symptoms, after that I say they become different ailments. I noted the primary condition was what they vaguely described as an enzyme imbalance, but agree only that diet is an influence. Yes, I do eat foods containing sugar, but not the fat and huge calories they gave in so many examples. I was not overweight twenty-two years ago, but began gaining in August, 2003. That’s a separate story.
The news scares me because it would mean a lot of what they’ve said about remaining mentally active, curious, and constantly learning new things may not be as preventative as once believed. But it does explain how people who watch excessive amounts of television are at higher risk. Can I take any comfort that I don’t have many of the latest list of correlated factors, such as stress, lack of physical activity, high birth weigh, and low socio-economic status?
I’ll talk to JZ on this. No way I eat excessive calories or sugar now, but I’ve eaten starches and carbs all my life. They say insomniacs are not as susceptible. When I read the list of Alzheimer’s conditions, they look to me like judgment calls. Other than mislaying things, which I’ve done my whole life, I’m okay. I have no problems with making plans, understanding words, nor confusion with times, dates, familiar tasks, or memory blackouts. And if anything, my thirst for stage performing is the opposite of what they call social withdrawal.
