Finally. . .

The tuba is here. . .finally. It was suposed to be here ten days ago, but "OH" they were "busy" and didn't mail it on time. (f**k-heads!) Now the boy only has three days to get used to playing with a 30 pound chunk of metal on his shoulder. Buddy says, "What is it?" and Ransome thinks something is hiding in the case - he keeps walking around it and smelling it. He will just "guard" it until something pops out. I can't lift the thing, good thing the case has wheels. I have no idea how the boy is gonna carry this thing on his shoulder all weekend, much less, march with it, play it, and hold it in front of him at parade rest. He is determined to be successful, and I am proud of him for trying so hard. Audition camp is this weekend in Kissemmee, and he will be "camped out" on a high school gym floor from Friday night until Sunday afternoon. Keep your fingers crossed that he passes the audition.

Now I understand

An old lady I know used to say, "I wouldn't have him for him", when talking about some useless person that she didn't like. I used to think this was a strange comment, and I didn't quite understand it. Lately, the comment has become crystal clear to me. It refers to the persons egocentric personality, and their attitude about how the world owes them a living. A selfish, self centered person, who always has to be the center of attention, and who can't get enough of themselves, who is always right. They are the smartest, best, most good looking person in the world - in their mind. This over inflated ego is further enhanced by the person constantly having to berate or belittle other people around them to make them look even better and more important to themselves. Most often this person does not know how they are perceived by others, how ridiculous they appear to the rest of us. To paraphrase R.D. Lang, "one of his problems, is that he does not know he has a problem".

Lost elephant

You are not gonna believe this. In a previous post I told you how I bought a tuba, and how I was waiting by the door everyday for it to arrive. Well, guess what? Yup, lost in the mail. How do you lose a tuba? I have ordered almost everything in the mail, by UPS, FEDEX, DHL, and never (too late to knock on wood) lost anything. It was supposed to be here in five days. It was sent on November 17th. We NEED it by Friday next week to leave for the audition. When I talked to guy who shipped it, he said, "How could they lose it?, it is like losing an elephant!!!" He assured me that they would find it on Monday, or ship another one. The problem I have now is that my son has never even held this type of instrument, and next weekend he has to audition with it.

Holy Crap!

Domino Bob was on Letterman tonight. He takes hours setting up dominoes just to knock them down in a matter of minutes. I guess that is entertainment. It seems like it is just more crap in the world. How much more stuff can we have? I cleaned out about half of my closet today. There were clothes in there that I don't even remember having. The older I get, the more annoyed I get with all this junk. Of course it is the time of year that we are all buying more "stuff" for each other. The Christmas shopping frenzy is about to begin, and we will all end up with more junk that we don't need. Several years ago I had a fire in my garage. It destroyed most of the extra stuff that I didn't need that was stored out there. About $2500. worth of stuff. When I got the insurance check, I bought new stuff. Now I have so much stuff, that I don't know where it all is, and when I need it - I can't find it! So, when I need something, I have to go out and buy it - even though I know that I have it here somewhere. If this sounds wasteful, it is. If this is sounding like I am working on a New Years resolution, I am. I am gonna need a dump truck to unload all this crap!

"IF" by Rudyard Kipling - one of my favorites!

If you can keep your head when all about you
are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
but make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies;
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster,
and treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken,
twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
and stoop to build them up with wornout tools;

If you can make a heap of all your winnings
and risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
and lose, and start again at your beginnings
and never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
to serve you long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you,
except the will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can walk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes or loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
with sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

Christmas tree

Most people do not put "the tree" up until Thanksgiving or after. Ours is up already, maybe because I whined last year that it wasn't up long enough. I love the holidays. I am thankful that I have a nice home and family. I am very content and happy with my life. I am lucky, good fortune has smiled on me! Let me be the first to wish you - "Happy Holidays".

The cost of things

I just purchased a used King convertible tuba. (I am eagerly waiting by the door for it to arrive) It occurred to me that my son's first car did not cost as much as the tuba. Maybe this is because the tuba is all metal, while cars these days are made of mostly plastic! Anyway, if he abandons the car, I can always drive it or sell it......but the tuba?

Just wait by the mailbox

If you haven't started Christmas shopping, you should get busy with it now. I sent my mother a new 6 ft., pre-lit Christmas tree. She was complaining last year that her tree was too difficult to put together so the new one has "hinged" branches, already attached, that just fold out. It takes about ten minutes to set it up - then you just plug it in and add ornaments. Anyway, I bought the tree online from target, free shipping, delivered in two days. I am a fan of internet shopping. You don't have to leave the house, and this time of year many of the online retailers have free shipping, and most have no sales tax. There are professional Christmas shoppers, who shop for people who are too busy/lazy/selfish to do their own shopping. This could be a great internet business - have them list their desired gifts, then you could search for the best deal, order for them and have the gifts send directly to them. You could charge for this service, and never leave your computer. Just another one of my "get rich quick" ideas.

HP is cool

Hewlett-Packard may sound like a 50's car, but it is a pretty cool company. I have purchased many products from them. I have gotten two digital cameras from them, a laptop, and two printers. Some of these items have been purchased from their online store. I love the photo print quality of both my printers, one is a scanner-printer. I print a lot of photos, for the band and for photo books I keep. I also give away alot of photos to people. I like ink-jet printers, they have always worked well for me. There may be something better, but I don't know about it. The ink for these printers is quite expensive, and you can spend up to $60. replenishing both ink cartridges. HP has an online special going on right now - color & photo cartridges, 100 sheets of 4x6 photo paper, and free NEXT DAY shipping - all for $39.99. I ordered this yesterday, and FEDEX was knocking on the door with it at 9 AM this morning! Great deal! (I think I will order another batch!)

Be the first on my "blog!".........

......to contribute to my son's tuba fund! Yes, you heard it here first. My son is auditioning in December to march with "The Magic", a DCI band that tours the county in the summer. For more info see www.dci.org and click on the left side blue button "about us". Only problem with all this is that he currently plays the sousaphone, and this band plays a convertible tuba (see photo). Instead of wrapping around you like the sousaphone, these tubas (affectionly known as "buicks" because of their weight and size) are carried and played on your left shoulder - all this while you are marching. The Magic will provide a tuba for him if he gets in - but he really wants one to practice with at home. These big brass babies start at about $5000. I have been shopping around and found a used one, only 2 years old for $2500. Any suggestions about how I can beg, borrow or steal money for this project will be appreciated. Also, to all my friends everywhere - if there is anything I own that you want - call me - let's make a deal. I have no idea how I will pull this off, but some how, some way - I will get that boy his tuba!

Bird "whew"

Earlier today I was outside in the shed (which we call "the studio") which is adjacent to my homing pigeon coop. I had let the pigeons out to fly earlier, and some had returned, others were outside on the roof sunning themselves. Suddenly I heard a noise and wings flapping. I looked up and saw a flash, a hawk with one of the pigeons in his talons flying away. I ran towards the noise and the hawk dropped the heavy pigeon just inside the fence. The poor bird was stunned and not moving. It had a small spot of blood on it's head, and feathers missing, but no visable injuries. The pigeon appears to be recovering. I hope when it is my time to go, that it will happen that quickly; but I guess there is not a hawk big enough to carry me away - ha! I have about 30 pigeons now. I started about six years ago with 8. They are a lot like rabbits - if you get my meaning.

Endorsement

I am not one to endorse products, but I have found something that "does what it says". I am the ultimate slob. I love to be neat and clean, but lately, I can't keep food in my mouth. Maybe there is a hole in my bottom lip or something, but I can't eat anything without "wearing" it. I try to tuck a napkin in my collar (oh that looks good). Anyway, the other night I was in a restaurant eating a steak. Even though I haven't had steak in a while, I remembered that it is not usually sloppy. WRONG! Soon I had it all over the front of my shirt. I remembered that I had bought some "TIDE TO GO" stain stick, but had not tried it yet. I decided to try it on the greasy stain. It is the size of a pen, and you depress the marker type tip on to the stain. Unbelievable. It works. The stain on my white shirt COMPLETELY disapeared. I am gonna buy stock in the company. I will never leave home without it!

. . . and one more thing

The uniforms are done, but before I go, I want to tell you about a bumper sticker that I dreamed up today. How about this-

"Holster your gun, comments or gestures made by this driver are for entertainment purposes only, and not meant to offend you - please - don't shoot!"

I have to think about these things, after all, I do live in the "Gunshine" state.

"Banding together"

We had an away game Friday night, and this is the band performing at the half-time show. The show is getting better all the time, too bad we are at the end of the season, it went by fast. Tomorrow is the last competition, so I am up this late because I am washing their uniforms. OH! the life of a band parent! I pull the equipment trailer to all the band functions. Tonight, when I pulled in, a parking lot lady with no sense told me to park it on the field next to the stadium. When I drove in with the "HEMI" towing that 24 foot trailer, I felt it sink into the sod. After the game, it was hell getting out of there. My tires kept spinning and throwing mud onto the trailer. I finally got out of there. The trailer was covered with spin off mud, or so I thought until I got to the carwash and saw this! Yes, that is green grass all over the trailer! I am glad I washed it off (grass stain) right away.The turf at that field must be really torn up. There is NO dirt in this photo, that is all SOD! I hope they didn't get my tag number!

Blogs I love to read

Since I have discovered blogging - there are several sites worth mentioning. I have surfed the blogs - mostly on blogspot, and now there are some blogs that I read everyday. There are some incredible writers out there. Some of my favorite are "Matthew's Blog", the daily story and photos of a very ill little baby named Matthew and how his parents are dealing with his illness - I check it out almost everyday, to see how he is progressing. His daddy reports on him daily, usually with photos of his smiley little face. Little Matthew brightens my day. Another great blog is "Epiphenita", a wonderful and witty writer of contemporary thoughts that will keep you thinking and laughing all the time. I have also discovered "texas2tennessee", the blog of a woman living at a retreat who is quite a descriptive writer and photographer. Check these out, they are worth the read. On the other hand, I have also surfed through some real crap, written by psychos.

r-e-a-l-l-y part-time

My son quit his part time job this past weekend. He told me that he was really tired of smelling like fast foods, and that he really didn't want to work anymore. He only worked on weekends since last summer. He saved all of his money and put it in the bank. His argument was that he really didn't need to work, so he would rather not. Since I told him in the first place that I just wanted him to work for a while for the experience, I couldn't really argue the point. I explained to him that this was probably the last time in his life that he would have the "choice not to work". I reminded him how lucky he was that he didn't have to. Childhood is such a short time in our lives, I want him to enjoy it. I also want him to have a sense of responsibility. He knows he will have to keep a job when he is sixteen, that is - if he wants to have a car and drive. His sixteenth birthday is less than six months away - then he will have to join the rat race like the rest of us. I hope he enjoys the next few months off.