Oliver is fine. I just thought I'd get that out of the way up front, since I'm sure at least two out of the three of you that read this wouldn't have been able to focus without hearing it. You probably would have skipped over everything else just to see what was wrong with him; I'm on to your blog reading habits. The vet said that he probably just strained a little too much and to give him a little laxative over the next few days until it heals. She also gave him his shot he was supposed to get Friday, which is nice because I don't have to pay for 2 visits.
I got up at 8 this morning to call the vet actually. The lady told me that I could wait until Friday, but that his problem definitely wasn't normal, so I decided to go in. I figured if it was something bad like a bacterial infection, I didn't want it to get out of control just so I could avoid paying for two visits. Oliver slept on the bed for the first time last night. It went fine, except Lucy gets extremely grumpy when he tried to sleep next to her. It's kind of hilarious, I don't know what her deal is. I think I actually got more sleep this morning because both of them slept a little longer. We are starting to run out of room on the bed though...it's important to establish your position early on. Right now both of the pets are sleeping with their heads against Kristi, which is kind of cute. That's right, I used the word "cute" in my blog, and I'm not ashamed.
After talking to the vet receptionist I went ahead and got ready for the day, after which I quickly left for school. I enjoyed Psychology for the first time this semester, although I think the reason is totally unrelated to Psychology. We started talking about what age everyone wanted to die at, and I really enjoyed listening to what people had to say. There is this one older lady in the back who is very nice and comes across as very intelligent, and she talked alot today which I enjoyed. I didn't really add to the conversation, just listened. If I had to verbalize my feelings on the matter, I would probably say that I don't want to be a burden to my family, and I don't want to get so old that I am very lonely because most of my friends and family are gone. So I don't really think I have a specific age in mind at all. Some students said that they don't really think about it, because honestly they are a little scared to die. I have had to deal with alot of death in my life, sometimes I feel like more than others my age, so I actually have thought about the subject alot. I think it has been good for me.
After school I went straight to work and Joe and I worked on setting up a "green screen" most of the day. It's going to be used for some video shoots for Jingle Jazz...we'll see how it turns out. We ate lunch at Zaxby's, and Joe paid for my lunch which was a really nice surprise. A free CD and a free lunch in 2 weeks time...maybe he is getting ready to fire me or something and feels bad.
I had to come home from work before 4 so I could pick up Oliver and take him to the vet. I accidentally grabbed Lucy's shot records instead of Oliver's which made me feel a little dumb when the vet receptionist handed them back to me and told me they were from a dog. Thankfully they are familiar with the agency we adopted Oliver from, so they knew what he needed. I ended up waiting for almost an hour and half, but I did get to see a ton of dogs which was fun. There was only one cat in the waiting room, and it was mean and ugly. I mean literally ugly.
When I came home from the vet Kristi was there and we decided to go to Moe's for dinner. I really like Moe's, but tonight I didn't eat all of my food because I felt pretty full. We went grocery shopping afterwards and then came home. Kristi went to a friend's house for a little bit and I watched football and played guitar. I was going to work on statistics, but I am just really good at procrastinating.
I spent most of the later evening reading some pro audio forums. I was encouraged to see a bunch of people who have project studios at their houses and get a little business every now and then. I have alot more equipment I need to collect before I can start mine. But hey, I got to cross hi-hats and two snares off of my long list...that's exciting!
Tomorrow I might go to Greenville Tech in the morning to take care of some things and then I will work the rest of the day. I'm not really sure if I'll go to tech though, I might want to sleep, and sleep usually wins decisions like that. It all depends on how loud Lucy and Oliver are I guess...
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Sunday, November 23, 2008
If Oliver was infected with one of my unknowns...would it be my fault?
This weekend was another good one. If I keep this up I'm going to be in for a let down when I get to a bad one.
Friday was pretty uneventful. I called the vet in the morning to set up Oliver's appointment for his shots and ask about his issue. They said if he was acting normal, eating, and using the bathroom to keep an eye on him...so that's what we've been doing. He is still acting normal, but his issue has definitely gotten a little worse, so I think I'll call the vet again tomorrow. I don't want to wait until Friday if he's got a bacterial infection or something and could use an antibiotic now. Still it could be something as simple as his food...we'll see. In case you're wondering what his issue is, refer to the other post, I don't want to talk about it.
Work was not that fun for a while. Joe and I fished some cabling through the ceiling filled with insulation, which is very scratchy. It was also very dusty, which made for alot of coughing. The day ended well though because I got to do alot of soldering. The last cable I soldered was bad on all 3 pins...how pathetic is that. I have a hard time believing I was that poor at the soldering job though, so it might be that I accidentally switched the pins or need a new end or something. Joe also helped me capture a mini DV tape from Crossroads. I never really got to hear what the band sounded like on Sundays, so the last day I was there I set up a camera and recorded so I could get an idea. It turned out ok, here's one of the songs if you are interested...actually it was taking an eternity to upload, so I'll work on that another time:
That night Kristi and I went up to Gaffney to shop. I think she was a little disappointed in the stores, and it was frigid walking around outside. We didn't stay for too long, so we drove back to Greenville before eating, and Kristi chose California Dreaming. California Dreaming is never amazing, but it's always good, and I like that it can be cheap or expensive. For instance, on Friday it was only 25.00 for the both of us, which is less than what we pay at O'Charley's usually. After that we picked up Lucy from my parents' house and then came home.
Saturday I met Matt and Jay from my community group at Wild Wings to watch the Clemson game. It was alot of fun because almost everyone that sits upstairs is a Clemson fan, so there is alot of cheering and camaraderie. It was good to see us pull out another win, even it the offense was pitiful. On another note, Matt gave me two amazing tickets he won to the game next week, so my dad and I are going, which is really exciting. I always want to beat the Gamecocks, but this year especially. Go Tigers.
After that Kristi and I hung out at home for a little while and then when to TakoSushi with my parents. I had the dynamite roll again, and traded my parents for a few pieces of Super Krunchy. They were both delicious. I really enjoy sushi, but when I start to get full I can't handle eating any more of it. It's not like french fries which I could eat until my stomach explodes.
We hung out at my parents' house for a little while afterwards and then headed home. I watched some of the TT vs. OU game, but man was it pathetic. I also want to say that I don't care how good Florida looks, they lost to Ole Miss, and there is no way they should be ranked above OU, who just whipped the number 2 team and has only lost to Texas in a good game. That blows my mind. I mean I know the BCS poll put them number 4, thank goodness, but come on AP poll...
Today was a good day sound wise. For a little while I thought the choir mics were feeding back, but I figured out it was just some high frequency note from the keyboard that was resonating. Everything sounded really good I thought, especially the drums. Working with them the past few weeks I have been able to really get them right where I like them. No mess ups today either, which was nice.
We ate at Salsarita's today, which is not as good as Moe's (sorry Chad). But let's face it, neither is as good as Uncle Berto's....that place is amazing. When we finished eating I came home while Kristi did some shopping, and I finished recording that song I started working on last week.
It actually turned out better than I thought it would. It kind of sounds like an overcompressed mess, but you have to keep in mind that I am using low end software, all free plugins, and only 2 mic inputs. When your mastering phase consists of a single band free compressor used 2 or 3 times in line with itself it tends to sound a little messy. The drums sound better than I thought they would with just 2 inputs. My snare sounds great, which explains why when I get rid of my drums I will keep the snare. The new hats sound great too, although a little overpowering because of the micing situation. My other cymbals are rough, and my toms definitely a little boomy. The kick seems to be alright although it needs it's own mic. I was also pretty happy with the way the bass turned out. It is a newer addition to my collection and I had not recorded with it before. It's a Fender 70's reissue from Japan made in 1985. I just went straight through a cheap DI and it turned out pretty good I thought. I used my Fender Nashville Tele, which I haven't played in a while, and then my Taylor of course for the acoustic. I used a drawbar organ patch on my keyboard which I have always liked. It just kind of lays a smooth foundation without being too noticeable. The two mics I used for everything included a SDC MXL 991 and then my LDC, an ADK Hamburg. I recently sold off the other mics I had because I didn't like any others...well except for my Shure 58 and 57 of course, you have to have those. So anyways, it doesn't sound too great, but not too shabby for a couple hours and some serious handicaps in equipment and space:
All I Need
The whole process was a fun way to spend my free time, and I've been thinking about trying to write more consistently, so I may be posting some more new songs coming up. That was the only big thing I did tonight. Other than that Kristi and I just watched TV and ate dinner. It was really nice to not have anything to do on a Sunday night. In Columbia I used to get up around 6 and do the two morning services, then go eat and head downtown to set up and do the night service, and then on community group weeks go to community group. Some Sundays I wouldn't get back until like 10 or 11...it was miserable. I was never too conversational at community group, although I guess I'm really not that conversational in groups anyways.
Tomorrow I'm going to call the vet, and then possibly go to school. After that I'm going to take Lucy for a walk and then go to work to make up for not being able to work later in the week. I can't remember if I have off on Friday this week...it will be sad if I don't. I enjoy the day after Thanksgiving crazy shopping. I'll have to ask when I get to work tomorrow...
Friday was pretty uneventful. I called the vet in the morning to set up Oliver's appointment for his shots and ask about his issue. They said if he was acting normal, eating, and using the bathroom to keep an eye on him...so that's what we've been doing. He is still acting normal, but his issue has definitely gotten a little worse, so I think I'll call the vet again tomorrow. I don't want to wait until Friday if he's got a bacterial infection or something and could use an antibiotic now. Still it could be something as simple as his food...we'll see. In case you're wondering what his issue is, refer to the other post, I don't want to talk about it.
Work was not that fun for a while. Joe and I fished some cabling through the ceiling filled with insulation, which is very scratchy. It was also very dusty, which made for alot of coughing. The day ended well though because I got to do alot of soldering. The last cable I soldered was bad on all 3 pins...how pathetic is that. I have a hard time believing I was that poor at the soldering job though, so it might be that I accidentally switched the pins or need a new end or something. Joe also helped me capture a mini DV tape from Crossroads. I never really got to hear what the band sounded like on Sundays, so the last day I was there I set up a camera and recorded so I could get an idea. It turned out ok, here's one of the songs if you are interested...actually it was taking an eternity to upload, so I'll work on that another time:
That night Kristi and I went up to Gaffney to shop. I think she was a little disappointed in the stores, and it was frigid walking around outside. We didn't stay for too long, so we drove back to Greenville before eating, and Kristi chose California Dreaming. California Dreaming is never amazing, but it's always good, and I like that it can be cheap or expensive. For instance, on Friday it was only 25.00 for the both of us, which is less than what we pay at O'Charley's usually. After that we picked up Lucy from my parents' house and then came home.
Saturday I met Matt and Jay from my community group at Wild Wings to watch the Clemson game. It was alot of fun because almost everyone that sits upstairs is a Clemson fan, so there is alot of cheering and camaraderie. It was good to see us pull out another win, even it the offense was pitiful. On another note, Matt gave me two amazing tickets he won to the game next week, so my dad and I are going, which is really exciting. I always want to beat the Gamecocks, but this year especially. Go Tigers.
After that Kristi and I hung out at home for a little while and then when to TakoSushi with my parents. I had the dynamite roll again, and traded my parents for a few pieces of Super Krunchy. They were both delicious. I really enjoy sushi, but when I start to get full I can't handle eating any more of it. It's not like french fries which I could eat until my stomach explodes.
We hung out at my parents' house for a little while afterwards and then headed home. I watched some of the TT vs. OU game, but man was it pathetic. I also want to say that I don't care how good Florida looks, they lost to Ole Miss, and there is no way they should be ranked above OU, who just whipped the number 2 team and has only lost to Texas in a good game. That blows my mind. I mean I know the BCS poll put them number 4, thank goodness, but come on AP poll...
Today was a good day sound wise. For a little while I thought the choir mics were feeding back, but I figured out it was just some high frequency note from the keyboard that was resonating. Everything sounded really good I thought, especially the drums. Working with them the past few weeks I have been able to really get them right where I like them. No mess ups today either, which was nice.
We ate at Salsarita's today, which is not as good as Moe's (sorry Chad). But let's face it, neither is as good as Uncle Berto's....that place is amazing. When we finished eating I came home while Kristi did some shopping, and I finished recording that song I started working on last week.
It actually turned out better than I thought it would. It kind of sounds like an overcompressed mess, but you have to keep in mind that I am using low end software, all free plugins, and only 2 mic inputs. When your mastering phase consists of a single band free compressor used 2 or 3 times in line with itself it tends to sound a little messy. The drums sound better than I thought they would with just 2 inputs. My snare sounds great, which explains why when I get rid of my drums I will keep the snare. The new hats sound great too, although a little overpowering because of the micing situation. My other cymbals are rough, and my toms definitely a little boomy. The kick seems to be alright although it needs it's own mic. I was also pretty happy with the way the bass turned out. It is a newer addition to my collection and I had not recorded with it before. It's a Fender 70's reissue from Japan made in 1985. I just went straight through a cheap DI and it turned out pretty good I thought. I used my Fender Nashville Tele, which I haven't played in a while, and then my Taylor of course for the acoustic. I used a drawbar organ patch on my keyboard which I have always liked. It just kind of lays a smooth foundation without being too noticeable. The two mics I used for everything included a SDC MXL 991 and then my LDC, an ADK Hamburg. I recently sold off the other mics I had because I didn't like any others...well except for my Shure 58 and 57 of course, you have to have those. So anyways, it doesn't sound too great, but not too shabby for a couple hours and some serious handicaps in equipment and space:
All I Need
The whole process was a fun way to spend my free time, and I've been thinking about trying to write more consistently, so I may be posting some more new songs coming up. That was the only big thing I did tonight. Other than that Kristi and I just watched TV and ate dinner. It was really nice to not have anything to do on a Sunday night. In Columbia I used to get up around 6 and do the two morning services, then go eat and head downtown to set up and do the night service, and then on community group weeks go to community group. Some Sundays I wouldn't get back until like 10 or 11...it was miserable. I was never too conversational at community group, although I guess I'm really not that conversational in groups anyways.
Tomorrow I'm going to call the vet, and then possibly go to school. After that I'm going to take Lucy for a walk and then go to work to make up for not being able to work later in the week. I can't remember if I have off on Friday this week...it will be sad if I don't. I enjoy the day after Thanksgiving crazy shopping. I'll have to ask when I get to work tomorrow...
Thursday, November 20, 2008
You should be thankful this post doesn't contain any pictures!
I don't really get to sleep in the mornings anymore. The pets run around and make a bunch of noise after Kristi leaves, and even when Lucy decides to go back to sleep that just means Oliver takes turns pouncing on one of us. I got up at 9:30 today, but I feel like 9:30 now equals 8:30 because I am sure I'm losing at least an hour of sleep in there somewhere.
I took Lucy for a walk and then went to Guitar Center. I was interested to know how much they would give me for an acoustic amp I have. They didn't offer me much, and it was a gift, and I kind of like it, so I won't be selling it. After that I came home and ate lunch, followed by some cleaning.
After the cleaning I decided to get some Christmas shopping done. My mom let me know a few things that she and my dad want, so I headed off to find them. I found the stuff for mom, but not for dad...typical. In the car I've been listening to a CD that Joe gave me the other day. If you want to make my day, give me an unexpected free CD. I love getting CD's...well except for this one I got a couple months ago...but nevermind. It's from a worship leader name Casey Darnell, and I have really enjoyed it. The production is great and alot of the lyrics are great to. He has an awesome version of "Healer" on the end. That is such a good song, it's too bad that it carries such a negative connotation. I know I've said this before, but I think the song in some ways carries truth even more powerfully because of the crazy broken situation it came out of. I am still undecided on whether I will ever use it in a public setting. It's not that it isn't an amazing song, I just wonder if many of the people who know the story would have a hard time engaging with the song.
I came home and decided to work on some recording. I wrote a short little chorus while I was in Columbia that we sang pretty often down there. I haven't really written songs for corporate worship, but this one was really spontaneous and seemed God-given. I was planning out a set on a specific week and wanted a short song to close with on a certain topic. I started playing through a progression and sang the song with pretty much the exact words the first time through. So anyways, I want to record a demo version for use in the future. I am going to do it with a stereo drum track, since I only have two channels, so I am experimenting with my mic placement. I have to get an even balance of the drums only through overhead placement since I will have almost no control once it's laid down. It doesn't sound good, but it doesn't sound terrible...it will be interesting to see how it turns out. I thought about sequencing the drums, but I just don't like doing that.
Speaking of drums, I took some pictures of my 1978 Acrolite when it got here, but I decided to wait until Christmas to post them. Since I don't technically "have it" yet, I thought that would be more fun. Since the New Beats aren't Christmas presents I will take a picture of them tomorrow when they get here. I thought they were getting here today, but it says tomorrow on the FedEx thing.
I also emailed the drum shop to ask if they had another blue sparkly Mapex snare and they emailed me back and said they had one more. Kristi and I chatted about it, and she allowed me to purchase it as long as I work on putting money towards it over the next two or three months, which was really nice of her. I don't typically buy things not in my allowance budget already, but they are selling those so cheap that I really was interested in purchasing one, and by the time I would have saved enough of my allowance I'm sure someone else would have purchased it. So, it should be here soon, but I'm not going to use it until I put enough money towards it. I think I'm getting paid for some design stuff I did soon which should make it fairly easy to do quickly.
I feel like my blog has seemed a little consumeristic lately with all the buying and selling, but don't worry, this should be it for a while. I don't have any more musical equipment I want to sell off, and it takes me a long time to save my allowance up...probably because I spend it all on food pretty much. I mean, would you rather eat a sandwich or Moe's for dinner (or insert Kyoto Express, Zaxby's, etc.)? Not a hard choice...especially when food is kind of your hobby.
Anyways, I worked on the recording stuff most of the night which was alot of fun. Kristi and I are a little worried about Oliver (warning gross content coming up). We saw a tiny spot of blood on the floor, and our first thought was that Lucy must have bit Oliver. I gave it the ol' sniff test, and quickly deduced that it had in fact come from his bottom. Sure enough, there was a little red back there. He hasn't been acting weird though, or not eating, or having unusual you-know-whats, so hopefully it is just a parasite or stomach irritation or something. I called the 24 hour vet, and they said that as long as he was acting pretty normal I should just wait until tomorrow and call the normal vet. So I guess I'll be waking up early to do that tomorrow morning. I think that's probably the grossest thing I have ever posted on here, but I can't really help it, it was a pretty important part of my evening. You can't help but feel sorry for the little guy.
Tomorrow should be a long day...vet in the morning, then work, then Kristi and I are going to the outlets in Gaffney. Fun for her, kind of boring for me. Especially because I won't be buying anything. The great thing is though that she is going to go with me to TakoSushi Saturday night since I am going to the outlets with her tomorrow. She rarely goes to sushi places with me, so I am super excited about that. Cheese dip and then sushi...now that is a great combination.
I took Lucy for a walk and then went to Guitar Center. I was interested to know how much they would give me for an acoustic amp I have. They didn't offer me much, and it was a gift, and I kind of like it, so I won't be selling it. After that I came home and ate lunch, followed by some cleaning.
After the cleaning I decided to get some Christmas shopping done. My mom let me know a few things that she and my dad want, so I headed off to find them. I found the stuff for mom, but not for dad...typical. In the car I've been listening to a CD that Joe gave me the other day. If you want to make my day, give me an unexpected free CD. I love getting CD's...well except for this one I got a couple months ago...but nevermind. It's from a worship leader name Casey Darnell, and I have really enjoyed it. The production is great and alot of the lyrics are great to. He has an awesome version of "Healer" on the end. That is such a good song, it's too bad that it carries such a negative connotation. I know I've said this before, but I think the song in some ways carries truth even more powerfully because of the crazy broken situation it came out of. I am still undecided on whether I will ever use it in a public setting. It's not that it isn't an amazing song, I just wonder if many of the people who know the story would have a hard time engaging with the song.
I came home and decided to work on some recording. I wrote a short little chorus while I was in Columbia that we sang pretty often down there. I haven't really written songs for corporate worship, but this one was really spontaneous and seemed God-given. I was planning out a set on a specific week and wanted a short song to close with on a certain topic. I started playing through a progression and sang the song with pretty much the exact words the first time through. So anyways, I want to record a demo version for use in the future. I am going to do it with a stereo drum track, since I only have two channels, so I am experimenting with my mic placement. I have to get an even balance of the drums only through overhead placement since I will have almost no control once it's laid down. It doesn't sound good, but it doesn't sound terrible...it will be interesting to see how it turns out. I thought about sequencing the drums, but I just don't like doing that.
Speaking of drums, I took some pictures of my 1978 Acrolite when it got here, but I decided to wait until Christmas to post them. Since I don't technically "have it" yet, I thought that would be more fun. Since the New Beats aren't Christmas presents I will take a picture of them tomorrow when they get here. I thought they were getting here today, but it says tomorrow on the FedEx thing.
I also emailed the drum shop to ask if they had another blue sparkly Mapex snare and they emailed me back and said they had one more. Kristi and I chatted about it, and she allowed me to purchase it as long as I work on putting money towards it over the next two or three months, which was really nice of her. I don't typically buy things not in my allowance budget already, but they are selling those so cheap that I really was interested in purchasing one, and by the time I would have saved enough of my allowance I'm sure someone else would have purchased it. So, it should be here soon, but I'm not going to use it until I put enough money towards it. I think I'm getting paid for some design stuff I did soon which should make it fairly easy to do quickly.
I feel like my blog has seemed a little consumeristic lately with all the buying and selling, but don't worry, this should be it for a while. I don't have any more musical equipment I want to sell off, and it takes me a long time to save my allowance up...probably because I spend it all on food pretty much. I mean, would you rather eat a sandwich or Moe's for dinner (or insert Kyoto Express, Zaxby's, etc.)? Not a hard choice...especially when food is kind of your hobby.
Anyways, I worked on the recording stuff most of the night which was alot of fun. Kristi and I are a little worried about Oliver (warning gross content coming up). We saw a tiny spot of blood on the floor, and our first thought was that Lucy must have bit Oliver. I gave it the ol' sniff test, and quickly deduced that it had in fact come from his bottom. Sure enough, there was a little red back there. He hasn't been acting weird though, or not eating, or having unusual you-know-whats, so hopefully it is just a parasite or stomach irritation or something. I called the 24 hour vet, and they said that as long as he was acting pretty normal I should just wait until tomorrow and call the normal vet. So I guess I'll be waking up early to do that tomorrow morning. I think that's probably the grossest thing I have ever posted on here, but I can't really help it, it was a pretty important part of my evening. You can't help but feel sorry for the little guy.
Tomorrow should be a long day...vet in the morning, then work, then Kristi and I are going to the outlets in Gaffney. Fun for her, kind of boring for me. Especially because I won't be buying anything. The great thing is though that she is going to go with me to TakoSushi Saturday night since I am going to the outlets with her tomorrow. She rarely goes to sushi places with me, so I am super excited about that. Cheese dip and then sushi...now that is a great combination.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
I've never eaten so much cheesecake in my life...
Last night was kind of a rough night. For some reason I felt really tired and had a hard time focusing while I was trying to study. This really hurts my whole studying process, so I didn't get to bed until a little before 3. Even the pets had stopped playing and gone to sleep. Lucy was asleep at my feet with Oliver in the chair...it was kind of nice.
I woke up at 7 and went over my notecards again while laying in bed. Oliver kept pouncing on them, which made the process harder. When not pouncing on my notecards he was pouncing on Lucy's tail while she tried to sleep. She just gave him the "seriously?" look and then went back to sleep. Lucy normally goes to my parents' house on Wednesdays, but today mom was having visitors. Lucy is not nice to visitors, hence she was not allowed in the elder Stoeber household today. So when I left at 8:45 I left her in her crate.
I turned in my paper to my Psychology teacher and then went back to my car to study. I figured if you've got an average of 100 in a class, and you only have one test left, there is really no point in prioritizing the class at all. Studying for Micro seemed much more important, especially since having an A will give me serious points on my Nursing application.
Before the test I had to go to lab. I had done all my tests for my unknowns and all I had to do was read some results today. I identified my gram negative and positive unknowns and then cleaned out all my stuff from the semester...it feels great to be done. After that I studied in the hall and then took the test when it was time for lecture. I knew everything really well, but the test seemed trickier than usual. I spent several minutes deciding on a few of the answers, which is very unusual for me. I felt pretty good when I left, and found out later I got a 90, which I am pretty satisfied with. Only one left, and I think I just need to make over an 84 or something...not too bad at all.
After the test I came home and quickly ate lunch. Lucy seemed pretty tired, so I figured I could get away with not taking her on a walk today...big mistake. I ate my lunch, cleaned up around the house a little, and then headed to work.
Work was fun today because I got to run sound. There is a choir this week, which is a unique challenge on the type of stage we have. The condensers pick up so much ambient noise from the drums and other instruments that it makes it hard to get the choir out front, and it also creates feedback problems. I had things going pretty well by the end, but I talked to Brad and I may move the two LDC's a little more towards the center. Choirs are hard...with violins you can get each mic really close to the source, but unless you mic each individual in the choir there is no way to get the mic close to the general source because you end up only picking up a few main persons. I think it will be fine on Sunday because it sounded decent tonight, but I will have to think through what I want to do for sure.
Kristi came home for a little bit when I was at work and left Lucy in the sunroom behind the baby gate when she left. Oliver was left to roam around, and when I got home at 9:30, they were both in the sunroom together. I'm guessing Oliver had a bad experience jumping over the gate and probably didn't want to go back the other direction. They both looked like they had been getting along though, which was encouraging. Sometimes I wonder if Lucy is just waiting for us to leave to get Oliver, because she plays so rough with him. It'll be nice when Oliver is big enough to hold his own.
When I got home, Lucy was excited to see me like always, and apparently she had not forgotten that I had not taken her on her w-a-l-k. I tried to sit down and watch tv, but Lucy made it obvious that unless I took her on her w-a-l-k she was going rip the right leg of my jeans off. I gave in after a few minutes and took her...and man was it cold outside. The pansies are looking a little frost bitten lately. When we got back I just waited for Kristi to get home and then we all got in bed.
Tomorrow should be fun, because I am going to sleep in a little. Also, I wasn't finding any snares that I loved in my price range, and so I started looking at hi-hats, the next drum piece I wanted to replace...and I found some great ones on Ebay for really cheap. They are Zildjian New Beats, which are some really popular studio and live hats, kind of like the Supraphonic except not quite as much of a studio standard. My friend Clayton Bozart, an amazing drummer recommended them to me, and Brad Scott uses them at Southside (and he's incredible too). They are about 330$ new, and I picked up some nice used ones for 128$ on ebay, including shipping. Pretty exciting if you ask me. Those should be here tomorrow, and it will be really fun to use them. I think I also may work on stats tomorrow...we'll see if it happens...
I woke up at 7 and went over my notecards again while laying in bed. Oliver kept pouncing on them, which made the process harder. When not pouncing on my notecards he was pouncing on Lucy's tail while she tried to sleep. She just gave him the "seriously?" look and then went back to sleep. Lucy normally goes to my parents' house on Wednesdays, but today mom was having visitors. Lucy is not nice to visitors, hence she was not allowed in the elder Stoeber household today. So when I left at 8:45 I left her in her crate.
I turned in my paper to my Psychology teacher and then went back to my car to study. I figured if you've got an average of 100 in a class, and you only have one test left, there is really no point in prioritizing the class at all. Studying for Micro seemed much more important, especially since having an A will give me serious points on my Nursing application.
Before the test I had to go to lab. I had done all my tests for my unknowns and all I had to do was read some results today. I identified my gram negative and positive unknowns and then cleaned out all my stuff from the semester...it feels great to be done. After that I studied in the hall and then took the test when it was time for lecture. I knew everything really well, but the test seemed trickier than usual. I spent several minutes deciding on a few of the answers, which is very unusual for me. I felt pretty good when I left, and found out later I got a 90, which I am pretty satisfied with. Only one left, and I think I just need to make over an 84 or something...not too bad at all.
After the test I came home and quickly ate lunch. Lucy seemed pretty tired, so I figured I could get away with not taking her on a walk today...big mistake. I ate my lunch, cleaned up around the house a little, and then headed to work.
Work was fun today because I got to run sound. There is a choir this week, which is a unique challenge on the type of stage we have. The condensers pick up so much ambient noise from the drums and other instruments that it makes it hard to get the choir out front, and it also creates feedback problems. I had things going pretty well by the end, but I talked to Brad and I may move the two LDC's a little more towards the center. Choirs are hard...with violins you can get each mic really close to the source, but unless you mic each individual in the choir there is no way to get the mic close to the general source because you end up only picking up a few main persons. I think it will be fine on Sunday because it sounded decent tonight, but I will have to think through what I want to do for sure.
Kristi came home for a little bit when I was at work and left Lucy in the sunroom behind the baby gate when she left. Oliver was left to roam around, and when I got home at 9:30, they were both in the sunroom together. I'm guessing Oliver had a bad experience jumping over the gate and probably didn't want to go back the other direction. They both looked like they had been getting along though, which was encouraging. Sometimes I wonder if Lucy is just waiting for us to leave to get Oliver, because she plays so rough with him. It'll be nice when Oliver is big enough to hold his own.
When I got home, Lucy was excited to see me like always, and apparently she had not forgotten that I had not taken her on her w-a-l-k. I tried to sit down and watch tv, but Lucy made it obvious that unless I took her on her w-a-l-k she was going rip the right leg of my jeans off. I gave in after a few minutes and took her...and man was it cold outside. The pansies are looking a little frost bitten lately. When we got back I just waited for Kristi to get home and then we all got in bed.
Tomorrow should be fun, because I am going to sleep in a little. Also, I wasn't finding any snares that I loved in my price range, and so I started looking at hi-hats, the next drum piece I wanted to replace...and I found some great ones on Ebay for really cheap. They are Zildjian New Beats, which are some really popular studio and live hats, kind of like the Supraphonic except not quite as much of a studio standard. My friend Clayton Bozart, an amazing drummer recommended them to me, and Brad Scott uses them at Southside (and he's incredible too). They are about 330$ new, and I picked up some nice used ones for 128$ on ebay, including shipping. Pretty exciting if you ask me. Those should be here tomorrow, and it will be really fun to use them. I think I also may work on stats tomorrow...we'll see if it happens...
Monday, November 17, 2008
The only thing worse than smelling cat poop is watching your dog eat it...
This morning Oliver kept crying, so Kristi decided to let him out of the laundry room when she left. So much for sleeping in. Most of my morning consisted of getting up and making sure the pets weren't wreaking havoc on the house. I got up for good around 9:30 and got ready.
Micro lab was good today because I realized I will be done identifying my unknown bacteria on Wednesday...which means I'm done with lab for the semester. Not only that, but I found out that Mrs. Gower (our instructor) worked it out with the department to where our exam can only help us. That means assuming I maintain my A, which I should, there is no reason for me to take the exam...which is during Jingle Jazz week...which is a huge weight off of my shoulders. A cumulative Micro exam would be rough to say the least.
In between lab and lecture I went to McDonalds to take advantage of my free McFlurry coupon. I also bought a small fry with change from my ashtray, which also feels like getting something for free. There were over 10 cars in the drive-thru, and so I went inside to order to-go. From time to time I like to do this and see if I beat the last car in line. Surprisingly usually the drive-thru wins, but today I was successful by a car or two. Here's a tip...Zaxby's is a really bad place to try this. I'm pretty sure they do their drive-thru orders first priority, and the one time I went in I ended up waiting a really long time.
I went back and went to lecture, which was interesting because we talked about viruses. Our professor thinks that bird flu will eventually have an antigenic shift and become contagious human to human, at which point there will be an outbreak worldwide and people will die...how encouraging. Just kind of reminds you how helpless we as a human race really are.
After that I came home, stopping at Wal-Mart to get some bigger door stops. We stop the door to the laundry room closet where Oliver's litter box is so that he can get in but Lucy can't. The problem is the little door stop we had was easy for Lucy to push, but these new ones are pretty solid.
Kristi came home pretty early today, and after a little cleaning up around the house we headed to dinner. Neither of us had any good ideas, so we ended up at O'Charley's again. I keep getting the choose two combo with different items, and it keeps being delicious. Keep up the good work O'Charley's.
After dinner we went to Verizon because we got an ad saying we could get some sweet phones for free. Well it turns out we can't get them in the store, only through the promotional number, and only for Kristi, not me because she's the primary line. So we decided to wait until our 2 years is up so that both of us can get cheap phones. The way cell phone companies work is truly ridiculous...can we not come up with something more straight forward?
Once we came home I made notecards for my test most of the night and then we all headed to bed. Oliver still cried for a long time, but I guess at least his cry isn't as loud and obnoxious as Lucy's. Lucy actually never really cried at night unless she had to go to the bathroom. The first night I just laid at her crate until she fell asleep, and that seemed to be good enough for her. From then on she was really good at being quiet. Now if she wants to go out in the middle of the night she just stands on top of me, which is a great way to wake up...maybe we should make her sleep in her crate again.
Tomorrow will be fun; I'm going to have lunch with my friend Dave and then go into work. I'm not really looking forward to staying up late studying...hopefully Conan will have some good guests!
Micro lab was good today because I realized I will be done identifying my unknown bacteria on Wednesday...which means I'm done with lab for the semester. Not only that, but I found out that Mrs. Gower (our instructor) worked it out with the department to where our exam can only help us. That means assuming I maintain my A, which I should, there is no reason for me to take the exam...which is during Jingle Jazz week...which is a huge weight off of my shoulders. A cumulative Micro exam would be rough to say the least.
In between lab and lecture I went to McDonalds to take advantage of my free McFlurry coupon. I also bought a small fry with change from my ashtray, which also feels like getting something for free. There were over 10 cars in the drive-thru, and so I went inside to order to-go. From time to time I like to do this and see if I beat the last car in line. Surprisingly usually the drive-thru wins, but today I was successful by a car or two. Here's a tip...Zaxby's is a really bad place to try this. I'm pretty sure they do their drive-thru orders first priority, and the one time I went in I ended up waiting a really long time.
I went back and went to lecture, which was interesting because we talked about viruses. Our professor thinks that bird flu will eventually have an antigenic shift and become contagious human to human, at which point there will be an outbreak worldwide and people will die...how encouraging. Just kind of reminds you how helpless we as a human race really are.
After that I came home, stopping at Wal-Mart to get some bigger door stops. We stop the door to the laundry room closet where Oliver's litter box is so that he can get in but Lucy can't. The problem is the little door stop we had was easy for Lucy to push, but these new ones are pretty solid.
Kristi came home pretty early today, and after a little cleaning up around the house we headed to dinner. Neither of us had any good ideas, so we ended up at O'Charley's again. I keep getting the choose two combo with different items, and it keeps being delicious. Keep up the good work O'Charley's.
After dinner we went to Verizon because we got an ad saying we could get some sweet phones for free. Well it turns out we can't get them in the store, only through the promotional number, and only for Kristi, not me because she's the primary line. So we decided to wait until our 2 years is up so that both of us can get cheap phones. The way cell phone companies work is truly ridiculous...can we not come up with something more straight forward?
Once we came home I made notecards for my test most of the night and then we all headed to bed. Oliver still cried for a long time, but I guess at least his cry isn't as loud and obnoxious as Lucy's. Lucy actually never really cried at night unless she had to go to the bathroom. The first night I just laid at her crate until she fell asleep, and that seemed to be good enough for her. From then on she was really good at being quiet. Now if she wants to go out in the middle of the night she just stands on top of me, which is a great way to wake up...maybe we should make her sleep in her crate again.
Tomorrow will be fun; I'm going to have lunch with my friend Dave and then go into work. I'm not really looking forward to staying up late studying...hopefully Conan will have some good guests!
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Some people used chocolate in the recipe, but I prefer my cheesecake unadulterated...
This was such a fun filled weekend, I don't even know where to start. Weekends like this are so much fun that I am just too tired to post at night, so get ready for a long one with some good pictures...
Grocery shopping got moved up to Friday this week. One reason was that we didn't go the week before, and there were no drinks or food in the house. Perhaps the more important reason was that Kristi decided to have young married friends over Saturday, so we needed to purchase some dessert ingredients. I decided to make a cheesecake, which I had done twice before, but I decided to use a new recipe...but more on that later.
Wal-Mart was the same as always, and afterwards we dropped stuff off at home before going to Zaxby's for dinner. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the Simpsonville Zaxby's is disappointing. Not only are their wings drowned in sauce (which isn't as good, and also is not the way they are supposed to do it), on two occasions they have been cold...so cold one time that I actually took them up and asked them to cook them more, something I pretty much never do. Friday they were warm, but still drowned. Maybe things will improve with time.
After that we came home and after watching some TV I started on my cheesecake. The cheesecake recipe I had used before was good, but I wouldn't say awesome. My favorite recipe site is http://www.allrecipes.com/, and I found this recipe, which had 228 reviews with a 4.5 star rating. That's an amazing rating, especially with so many reviews. The recipe uses a shortbread crust instead of a graham cracker, which I wasn't sold on, but I thought I'd give it a go. Here's a picture of the crust once cooked:
And here's a picture of all the ingredients ready to be mixed.
I should mention that each of those eggs was cracked with only one hand, and I only had to pick one very minute piece of shell out. For the yolk only eggs, I used the old crack into the other hand technique:
Actually, she doesn't really want to share. When Oliver decided to explore her crate she squeezed in behind him and sat in the back guarding her bone. By the way, I did a really bad photoshop job to that second picture so his eyes weren't glowing...can you tell?
Oliver has been great to have around, he is very laid back and friendly, but he gets really lonely when we put him in the laundry room at night. He usually cries a little, but tonight he just cried and cried. Getting into bed tonight was quite an ordeal. His crying upset Lucy, so then she was scratching on the door and crying also. Neither of them would stop, so after some frustration I put Lucy in her crate and just let Oliver cry. After about 20 minutes he finally stopped, and Lucy finally decided to lay down. I put her back in bed, and she thankfully decided she would go to sleep. Hopefully Oliver will learn to sleep in his bed in the laundry room soon without complaint, because I definitely cannot handle 30 minutes of that every night. I guess it is kind of nice that the two of them like each other so much though.
Wow....how was that for a long post? If you made it through that and read every word, I commend you. Tomorrow I'm going to skip Psych, and then go to Micro. I only have one test this week, so that will be nice. Maybe this week will be the week I find a good maple snare...we can only hope...
Grocery shopping got moved up to Friday this week. One reason was that we didn't go the week before, and there were no drinks or food in the house. Perhaps the more important reason was that Kristi decided to have young married friends over Saturday, so we needed to purchase some dessert ingredients. I decided to make a cheesecake, which I had done twice before, but I decided to use a new recipe...but more on that later.
Wal-Mart was the same as always, and afterwards we dropped stuff off at home before going to Zaxby's for dinner. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the Simpsonville Zaxby's is disappointing. Not only are their wings drowned in sauce (which isn't as good, and also is not the way they are supposed to do it), on two occasions they have been cold...so cold one time that I actually took them up and asked them to cook them more, something I pretty much never do. Friday they were warm, but still drowned. Maybe things will improve with time.
After that we came home and after watching some TV I started on my cheesecake. The cheesecake recipe I had used before was good, but I wouldn't say awesome. My favorite recipe site is http://www.allrecipes.com/, and I found this recipe, which had 228 reviews with a 4.5 star rating. That's an amazing rating, especially with so many reviews. The recipe uses a shortbread crust instead of a graham cracker, which I wasn't sold on, but I thought I'd give it a go. Here's a picture of the crust once cooked:
And here's a picture of all the ingredients ready to be mixed. I should mention that each of those eggs was cracked with only one hand, and I only had to pick one very minute piece of shell out. For the yolk only eggs, I used the old crack into the other hand technique:
Unbelievably I forgot to take a picture of the finished product, but let me tell you, it really was incredible. It reminded me alot of Carnegie Deli cheesecake (which they have at California Dreaming by the way). Not only that, I think I actually like the shortbread crust better than graham cracker. My cake did crack some in the middle, and supposedly if you are a great cheesecake maker you don't get cracks, but it doesn't affect the taste so I don't really care. I have a good bit left over, but I am not sharing it, because it is delicious. Well, except for Joe, I told him I'd bring him a piece.
By the time the cheesecake was done it was pretty late so Kristi and I went ahead and got in bed with visions of a fun filled Saturday dancing in our heads.
I got up around 9 on Saturday and got started on some yard work. I had been putting off planting the bushes in the back yard, even though there were only 4 of them, so I decided to go ahead and finish. We have a few bare spots in the mulch beds, but we are going to wait until spring to plant the rest, which will included Lantana, Spikes, Azaleas, and Chinese Fringe. One of the bushes I planted in the back on the corner, was a Camelia. I think I am most excited about it because I really like the flowers it has. Hopefully it will do well where it is.
After the yard work I ate some lunch and then watched Clemson play Duke for a little bit. It was pretty obvious that we were going to dominate them, so I didn't feel a need to stick around the TV for the whole game, so Kristi and I left to run some errands. I had to ship out the guitar head that the guy finally paid me for, and we stopped at some stores along the way. By the way, I decided on the blue sparkly Mapex, but the guy took so long to pay me that someone else bought it. I am pretty sad about that, but I guess I will just be patient and wait for something else to come up. For some reason I just didn't feel good about that Starclassic snare, so I think I will just sit on it for a while.
Since I didn't have any good options online anymore, I decided to stop at some pawn shops to see if they had anything. Pawn shops have typically been disappointing for me, and it was the same on Saturday. Each one only had 1 snare, and neither were anything worth looking at. Kristi had fun looking at the jewelry I think, it was kind of a funny experience to go to pawn shops together. We also stopped at Palmetto Music to look at their snares. They had a 6.5 x 14 custom brass snare which looked pretty sweet, but since I eventually want a 6.5 x 14 Ludwig Black Beauty (which is basically a brass supraphonic), purchasing it wouldn't have worked with my new policy. Disappointed by my lack of options I went to FedEx to ship the package, and then Kristi and I shopped at the mall for a little bit. We went to Guitar Center on the way home...nothing there either.
After shopping I took Lucy for a walk and then watched football for a little while. It was good to see USCjr. get stomped. I think that while they may have a better chance at beating us this year, they may be a little over confident. I think there is a chance that we could come out a beat them by a touchdown or two, especially since it's a home game. I don't think the SEC is quite as good as everyone thinks, and I think we are getting better and better. As long as we mess with their passing game, we'll hang in there pretty well. I hope our DC comes up with some good schemes!
Kristi and I went to Moe's and then came home to get ready for the party. Three couples came, and it was alot of fun. We ate the desserts we made (Kristi made brownies), and then we played some games. Apples to Apples was a little dull like always, but Catch Phrase was it's usual excitement. It was a very enjoyable night, and it left both us and the pets pretty tired.
All of this leads me to today. I woke up very early like always and got to church a little after 7. I ran sound, and oddly it was in some ways one of the best Sundays I've done, and in other ways it was the worst. First of all, I really enjoyed mixing the strings. I thought they ended up sounding really good, and I really enjoyed the whole atmosphere the sound created. I also really enjoyed the songs, so that coupled with the great arrangements and sound made for a really fun time. I did make several mistakes though that really frustrated me. In the first service I had a little trouble with feedback from the string bass mic. It wasn't high stuff, just a soft low rumble, but it was frustrating. The guy that played was only there this morning, and it didn't show up during their warm up, so I just had to do my best with it and then trouble shoot between services. I ended up unplugging his monitor and compressing him less, which fixed the issue. I also messed up on a few key parts. In two services I started fading out Charlie's mic when I thought he was done talking, only to have him start again. Again, not super noticeable, but really frustrating for me. Other than that the only other mess up was not being ready for Matt to start the Prelude in the 2nd service, but I didn't mind that one as much because it isn't really a part of the focused service time. Either way, hopefully next time I will do a little better.
Kristi and I ate lunch with the Boyds as usual, and then came home. I took Lucy for her walk and then we watched some TV until community group. Kristi made a delicious salad to take because tonight was just a meal night. We have really enjoyed community group and the friends we've made.
We got home and hung out for a little while before going to bed. Tonight I successfully purchased an Acrolite, my Christmas present from Kristi. I ended up having to spend a good bit more than our budget, but I will either take it out of my allowance or use money from the Marshall if I don't buy another snare for a while. I had lost about 4 Acrolite auctions before this, but since this was the year I wanted and was in pretty good original shape from what I could tell, I bid a little bit more to make sure I got it. If case you forget, the Acrolite has a similar seamless shell to the Supraphonic, and the 5.5 x 14 is one of the 4 snare drums I definitely want. Here is the auction if you are interested in seeing it. I will be excited when it gets here...Merry Christmas to me. I guess I'll have to let Kristi have it until Christmas so she can wrap it...but I'll definitely try it out first. This whole snare selection thing has been a good test of patience for me...like tonight I actually watched a really expensive Mapex Phosphor Bronze 5.5 x 14 go with no bids on Ebay. But, my new policy of only collecting nice things that I want long term would not allow me to buy it, because since I eventually want a 6.5 x 14 Ludwig Black Beauty, the Mapex Bronze would only be holding me over.
I am happy to report that Lucy and Oliver have been becoming good friends. Sometimes Lucy gets a little rough, but Oliver just purrs away while they play. Sometimes I think Lucy could chew his ear off and he wouldn't care. Lucy is even learning to share her toys with him:
Actually, she doesn't really want to share. When Oliver decided to explore her crate she squeezed in behind him and sat in the back guarding her bone. By the way, I did a really bad photoshop job to that second picture so his eyes weren't glowing...can you tell?Oliver has been great to have around, he is very laid back and friendly, but he gets really lonely when we put him in the laundry room at night. He usually cries a little, but tonight he just cried and cried. Getting into bed tonight was quite an ordeal. His crying upset Lucy, so then she was scratching on the door and crying also. Neither of them would stop, so after some frustration I put Lucy in her crate and just let Oliver cry. After about 20 minutes he finally stopped, and Lucy finally decided to lay down. I put her back in bed, and she thankfully decided she would go to sleep. Hopefully Oliver will learn to sleep in his bed in the laundry room soon without complaint, because I definitely cannot handle 30 minutes of that every night. I guess it is kind of nice that the two of them like each other so much though.
Wow....how was that for a long post? If you made it through that and read every word, I commend you. Tomorrow I'm going to skip Psych, and then go to Micro. I only have one test this week, so that will be nice. Maybe this week will be the week I find a good maple snare...we can only hope...
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Who knew there were so many things to think about when it comes to snare drums?
I didn't get too much done today, but at least it was enjoyable. I slept past 9:30 for the first time in a long time, mainly because after Kristi left I didn't even wake up until 9:50. I think I was pretty tired from the whole school ordeal yesterday, and I guess Oliver is wearing Lucy out, because she was still sleepy when I got up.
I got ready and hung out with Oliver and Lucy for the rest of the morning. They really seem to like each other. They both licked each other for a little bit and then commenced into their normal playing, which consists of Lucy poking Oliver with her nose and then Oliver hitting her in the face with his paw. Then Oliver runs to a different part of the room and they repeat. Lucy seems really frustrated that Oliver is allowed on the furniture. Every now and then she just can't take it and jumps up on the chair. I yell, and she gives me this exasperated look like, "how is what I'm doing wrong when this punk is constantly up here." I almost feel sorry for her, but she'll get over it.
Around 12 I went to the bank and deposited a check. My dad said he would call when he was on his way to eat, so after that I went to Home Depot and then waited in the Zaxby's parking lot. I've been listening to the Jack's Mannequin CD again lately...it is just so good. While I was waiting my dad called to tell me he wouldn't be there until 1. That gave me even more time to kill, so I made a quick trip to Target where I found a good Christmas gift for Kristi. She likes to pick out most of her gifts, but I can't stand not having anything I picked out myself. I don't think she ever reads my blog, but just to be safe I won't say what I got. Chad, you've got such a big mouth, I just can't trust you. Why my brother-in-law reads my blog, but my wife doesn't, I will never understand.
Dad and I ate lunch and then talked for a while. He came over for a little while afterwards to see some of the yard progress. His dog Molly was along so she came in too. She is one of the most well behaved dogs I have ever met...very laid back and never does anything mischievous. She seems really interested in the kitten, but just kind of stares at it. She gets intimidated when he slaps at her, unlike Lucy who seems to not care at all.
After they left I took Lucy for a walk and then did a little cleaning. I actually get a little sad that Lucy doesn't really pay me attention anymore. She used to hang on my every move, just waiting to play or go on a walk. I guess I've been replaced...by a cat. Kristi just told me I'm weird when I told her that. Anyways, at least Lucy still gets excited about walks. Oops, I mean w-a-l-k-s.
Kristi came home and we decided to go to O'Charleys. Their food has been so good every time I have been their recently. They have this soup called "Chicken Harvest," and it is incredible. Plus it comes with my meal, so that makes it even better. After that we did some quick shopping and then came home. We watched a little tv and then went to bed.
Tomorrow the guy that won my guitar head is supposedly going to pay me, and then I will go ahead and order a snare. I know you have a week to pay with ebay, but bidders who take a few days to pay really bother me. Not only that, but I have to leave them positive feedback even though it took them so long because technically they did everything right. Why can't people pay within a day of winning the item? Seems better to me. Did you know sellers can't even leave negative feedback anymore? That is just ridiculous. Like this one time this kid bought a bass from me and then didn't have the money and wanted me to wait a month or something. If that would have happened recently I wouldn't have been able to leave him a bad review...ridiculous.
So, the 6.5 inch that was on sale on MusiciansFriend.com went up 130$ yesterday, and they won't honor the old price (already asked), so I'm just going to go with a 5.5 for now and get a 6.5 later on. That being decided, I've boiled it down to this Mapex Saturn snare or this Tama Starclassic Snare. Both are typically 350$ to 400$ drums, so they are both great deals. Both have solid hardware, and both are thin maple shells. The Saturn is unique because it has 2 plies of Walnut on the inner part, and from what I've read it makes for a great combo. On the other hand, Tama Starclassics are more of a proven line that alot of pros from bands I like use. Both are pro level drums, and I don't really know whether I like flanged or die-cast hoops, or exactly what angle I like for my bearing edges. I have YouTubed the 2 models as much as possible, and have found videos of both that sound wonderful. I think probably what it boils down to is that they are both going to sound great, just slightly different. The Mapex would be a little bit cheaper, so right now I'm leaning that direction, but it is going to be a really hard decision to make. I wish I could just go play them, but unfortunately in my price range I have to look for deals online. I don't think Guitar Center carries Mapex anymore anyways, and I doubt they have any Tama Starclassic Maples in stock. I guess tomorrow I'll just have to think through it one more time and then go with my gut. I prefer not to leave decisions up to my gut, but oh well.
I'm also looking for a 70's Ludwig Acrolite on Ebay that Kristi can get me for Christmas. Our Christmas budget this year is pretty low, so I'm having a hard time finding one cheap enough. Alot of times though people don't know what old stuff they are selling so they do a poor job listing it and it gets less bids...I almost won one like that tonight. The Acrolite is a seamless steel shell alot like the Supraphonic, except only has 8 lugs instead of 10. The Supraphonic is the most recorded snare drum in history, and is pretty expensive for a good one, but the Acrolite was marketed as a student drum, so they can be found for very cheap. Both are known for being great drums. I think ideally in my mind I would like to end up with 4 snare drums many years down the road. A 14x5 Acrolite, a 14x6.5 Supraphonic, a good maple 14x5.5 (hopefully the saturn), and a good maple either 14x6.5 or 14x7. You may think that that is alot of snare drums, but great drummers have alot of snare drums. For instance, I was reading about Jimmy Eat World producing their newest album, and in the article it stated that Zach Lind has over 30. They each have their own distinct qualities. Oh, also, did you know that it is kind of my dream to one day have a project studio in my house? This may answer alot of questions for you about why I am slowly trying to get to a point where I have a solid arsenal of pro instruments. I would love to be able to produce music as a side job...I don't know if that means for local bands, or possibly for a ministry for churches, or even both...but I would really love to be able to do that. And I figure with a little patience and smart buying I can get to a point where I have enough solid equipment to make some decent sounding recordings. It all starts with the instruments too, because let me tell you, a great signal chain is just going to make an entry level drum kit sound exactly like what it is...an entry level drum kit.
So that last paragraph got really long. Sometimes I wonder if the few of you who read this blog actually read my tirades about music and musical equipment or if you just skip over it. I imagine if I was reading Joe's blog and he went into a long explanation about birdwatching or something, I would probably just skip over it. What can I say? I just can't help myself.
If you have some nice piece of musical equipment you would like to donate to the cause, just let me know. I'll go ahead and sell it on ebay and get something better :).
I got ready and hung out with Oliver and Lucy for the rest of the morning. They really seem to like each other. They both licked each other for a little bit and then commenced into their normal playing, which consists of Lucy poking Oliver with her nose and then Oliver hitting her in the face with his paw. Then Oliver runs to a different part of the room and they repeat. Lucy seems really frustrated that Oliver is allowed on the furniture. Every now and then she just can't take it and jumps up on the chair. I yell, and she gives me this exasperated look like, "how is what I'm doing wrong when this punk is constantly up here." I almost feel sorry for her, but she'll get over it.
Around 12 I went to the bank and deposited a check. My dad said he would call when he was on his way to eat, so after that I went to Home Depot and then waited in the Zaxby's parking lot. I've been listening to the Jack's Mannequin CD again lately...it is just so good. While I was waiting my dad called to tell me he wouldn't be there until 1. That gave me even more time to kill, so I made a quick trip to Target where I found a good Christmas gift for Kristi. She likes to pick out most of her gifts, but I can't stand not having anything I picked out myself. I don't think she ever reads my blog, but just to be safe I won't say what I got. Chad, you've got such a big mouth, I just can't trust you. Why my brother-in-law reads my blog, but my wife doesn't, I will never understand.
Dad and I ate lunch and then talked for a while. He came over for a little while afterwards to see some of the yard progress. His dog Molly was along so she came in too. She is one of the most well behaved dogs I have ever met...very laid back and never does anything mischievous. She seems really interested in the kitten, but just kind of stares at it. She gets intimidated when he slaps at her, unlike Lucy who seems to not care at all.
After they left I took Lucy for a walk and then did a little cleaning. I actually get a little sad that Lucy doesn't really pay me attention anymore. She used to hang on my every move, just waiting to play or go on a walk. I guess I've been replaced...by a cat. Kristi just told me I'm weird when I told her that. Anyways, at least Lucy still gets excited about walks. Oops, I mean w-a-l-k-s.
Kristi came home and we decided to go to O'Charleys. Their food has been so good every time I have been their recently. They have this soup called "Chicken Harvest," and it is incredible. Plus it comes with my meal, so that makes it even better. After that we did some quick shopping and then came home. We watched a little tv and then went to bed.
Tomorrow the guy that won my guitar head is supposedly going to pay me, and then I will go ahead and order a snare. I know you have a week to pay with ebay, but bidders who take a few days to pay really bother me. Not only that, but I have to leave them positive feedback even though it took them so long because technically they did everything right. Why can't people pay within a day of winning the item? Seems better to me. Did you know sellers can't even leave negative feedback anymore? That is just ridiculous. Like this one time this kid bought a bass from me and then didn't have the money and wanted me to wait a month or something. If that would have happened recently I wouldn't have been able to leave him a bad review...ridiculous.
So, the 6.5 inch that was on sale on MusiciansFriend.com went up 130$ yesterday, and they won't honor the old price (already asked), so I'm just going to go with a 5.5 for now and get a 6.5 later on. That being decided, I've boiled it down to this Mapex Saturn snare or this Tama Starclassic Snare. Both are typically 350$ to 400$ drums, so they are both great deals. Both have solid hardware, and both are thin maple shells. The Saturn is unique because it has 2 plies of Walnut on the inner part, and from what I've read it makes for a great combo. On the other hand, Tama Starclassics are more of a proven line that alot of pros from bands I like use. Both are pro level drums, and I don't really know whether I like flanged or die-cast hoops, or exactly what angle I like for my bearing edges. I have YouTubed the 2 models as much as possible, and have found videos of both that sound wonderful. I think probably what it boils down to is that they are both going to sound great, just slightly different. The Mapex would be a little bit cheaper, so right now I'm leaning that direction, but it is going to be a really hard decision to make. I wish I could just go play them, but unfortunately in my price range I have to look for deals online. I don't think Guitar Center carries Mapex anymore anyways, and I doubt they have any Tama Starclassic Maples in stock. I guess tomorrow I'll just have to think through it one more time and then go with my gut. I prefer not to leave decisions up to my gut, but oh well.
I'm also looking for a 70's Ludwig Acrolite on Ebay that Kristi can get me for Christmas. Our Christmas budget this year is pretty low, so I'm having a hard time finding one cheap enough. Alot of times though people don't know what old stuff they are selling so they do a poor job listing it and it gets less bids...I almost won one like that tonight. The Acrolite is a seamless steel shell alot like the Supraphonic, except only has 8 lugs instead of 10. The Supraphonic is the most recorded snare drum in history, and is pretty expensive for a good one, but the Acrolite was marketed as a student drum, so they can be found for very cheap. Both are known for being great drums. I think ideally in my mind I would like to end up with 4 snare drums many years down the road. A 14x5 Acrolite, a 14x6.5 Supraphonic, a good maple 14x5.5 (hopefully the saturn), and a good maple either 14x6.5 or 14x7. You may think that that is alot of snare drums, but great drummers have alot of snare drums. For instance, I was reading about Jimmy Eat World producing their newest album, and in the article it stated that Zach Lind has over 30. They each have their own distinct qualities. Oh, also, did you know that it is kind of my dream to one day have a project studio in my house? This may answer alot of questions for you about why I am slowly trying to get to a point where I have a solid arsenal of pro instruments. I would love to be able to produce music as a side job...I don't know if that means for local bands, or possibly for a ministry for churches, or even both...but I would really love to be able to do that. And I figure with a little patience and smart buying I can get to a point where I have enough solid equipment to make some decent sounding recordings. It all starts with the instruments too, because let me tell you, a great signal chain is just going to make an entry level drum kit sound exactly like what it is...an entry level drum kit.
So that last paragraph got really long. Sometimes I wonder if the few of you who read this blog actually read my tirades about music and musical equipment or if you just skip over it. I imagine if I was reading Joe's blog and he went into a long explanation about birdwatching or something, I would probably just skip over it. What can I say? I just can't help myself.
If you have some nice piece of musical equipment you would like to donate to the cause, just let me know. I'll go ahead and sell it on ebay and get something better :).
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
You know I hear they are making these neat things called "debit cards" now...
So we have this paper due next week in Psychology. We are supposed to say whether we consider ourselves adults and why. I apparently have not reached the level of responsibility required for adulthood.
I had two tests today, Psychology and Micro lab. I spent Monday and Tuesday studying for Psychology, because it has a higher weight than my Micro lab test. Last night Kristi's friends came over, so I socialized, and then went to study for my lab test when they left at 10:45. It was then that I realized I had left my lab book in lab. This posed quite a few problems...well actually one big one, which was that I had no conceivable way of studying anything. Not only was my book there, but my review sheet was in my book, which contained a list of what I needed to know.
I decided that I would just have to wake up really early, go to Tech, and find someone to let me in the lab. I tried not to stress too much, as the lab test is only 7.5% of my final grade, and I got in bed. It was then that I realized I was supposed to go to a "Career Talk" earlier that evening. I have to go to one before I apply to nursing school, and they only have them sparingly. I had asked Joe if I could leave early and everything a couple weeks ago, but I probably hadn't thought about it for 4 days, hence I completely forgot to go. The next one is in the afternoon during Jingle Jazz week, which isn't ideal, but I guess I have to go. Joe was nice about it, which was a big relief. Not that he's ever mean, but I pretty much just screwed up by forgetting. So I think in my paper I will put that I do not consider myself an adult, because I apparently cannot remember extremely important things that I need to do.
Anyways, I woke up at 6:15, took a quick shower, and left to take Lucy to my parents' house. They had no idea I would be there so early, because I didn't want to wake them up by calling either last night or this morning. They were a little surprised, but I think it was OK. I knew dad would be waking up for work anyways. I left quickly and got to the Nursing building around 7:30. None of the teachers on the second floor were in their office, so I asked a janitor if she could let me in. As I suspected, they are not allowed to let students into labs...what with infectious organisms and all. I read through all the posted office hours of teachers on the wall, and none were going to be there until at least 8:30, so I went downstairs to an office that I had seen open. Inside was a nursing instructor who was extremely nice. I'm not sure that she was technically allowed to let me in either, but she told me if I went straight in and got the book that she would do it. I tried to express my appreciation adequately, but I think I might slip a thank you note under her door later this week.
All in all I got into my car at about 7:45 and was able to study all the way up until 9:00, when I went in to get ready for my Psychology test. Both tests went really well, and it was a big relief. After all the stress I decided I needed a break, so I came home to hang out with Oliver before going to work. I ate lunch while I was home, and then decided to go to Best Buy on my way in.
At Best Buy I picked up the new Lovedrug CD. I absolutely loved their first album, but their second seemed really disjointed. It had some really good stand alone songs on it, but as a whole it just didn't feel right. I think there were alot of band transitions at the time, like members changing, which may have added to the issue. This album is called "The Sucker Punch Show," and while it definitely is more cohesive, I am not really sure I like it. I feel like they strayed a good bit from the qualities that made their first album so good, and overall it's just kind of weird. It may be one of those things where the creativity grows on my after a while, but I know there are some things about the production I definitely don't like. For instance, on number 7 the snare has a weird sound. I'm not sure if it was on purpose, but even if it was it just ended up sounding really crappy. I will keep giving it a chance though, and may comment more on it later.
Funny story...at Best Buy I was third in line waiting to check out. The guy checking out was taking forever because he was using a personal check, and they were having to go through the whole special process. I never ever see people pay by check, and was contemplating how odd it was that Best Buy even takes checks when it was time for the guy in front of me to pay. He steps up and no joke...pulls out his check book. I tried to savor the moment...it's not every day you see two people using checks to pay. If you still pay by check, I hope I didn't offend you...checks are cool, seriously...
Work was a little monotonous today, because we completely re-worked the stage setup. I actually didn't think it looked as good as usual yesterday, but setting it back up a different way is such a pain. Joe told me to have a good attitude, so I did my best. He helped me, which made it not so bad.
We went to eat a quick dinner at Hunan K after finishing, and it was delicious. The only thing I don't like is that there are no free refills, but I guess that's better for them. They probably do alot of takeout anyways. I could eat fried rice every day of the week. Kristi called me to tell me she got a speeding ticket while we were eating. She was kind of upset, but I didn't really think it was a big deal. She just lost track of how fast she was going, I'm guessing it'll probably happen again to one of us sometime in the future. I don't think it was even enough to make our insurance go up, so it's just kind of a minor bump in the road (no pun intended...or was it).
Tonight I ran sound, and it was actually alot of fun. This week is very unique, in that there is not really a band. Instead there are 7 violins, a double bass, piano, keys, and acoustic guitar. For the violins I miced each individually, and then set up 2 Shure LDC's left and right to capture the overall sound with some ambience. I'm using the little tiny Audix SDC on the double bass, and then normal stuff on everything else. The bass dude wasn't here tonight, but it still sounded really great. I had to fight feedback with all the condensers for a while, especially the KSM LDC's...but with some gates, less compression, and some work on the monitors everything seems to be feedback free and fairly stable. Feedback during a service is one of my biggest fears, because there is just nothing more distracting. One thing I did to the sound this week that I think made a big difference is made a small cut around 4.5kHz on the center and stereo outs (the main fader controls left and right, and the center cluster is fed off of a bus). I always find myself fighting harshness when I run sound, and I think it is mostly in the 5kHz area. Since I am always cutting there with most things that occupy that range, I figured why not just take it out of the mains. I only cut about 2dB with a pretty wide Q, but I think it really made a difference. It's a little hard to tell because the band isn't playing, but I'm going to try something similar next time I run with the full band. I'm thinking about setting my digital camera up on the mixer and hitting record just so I can get an ambient recording to post on here Sunday. It's gonna be good!
I got home around 9:30 and played with the pets some. Oliver and Lucy are getting along better and better. Lucy doesn't get nearly as excited, and Oliver doesn't seem scared of her. If she gets too out of hand he just slaps her in the nose a few times and she backs off. I got into bed a little after 10 and have been watching live performances on Youtube and looking for new music ever since. I found this one band called Darkroom. I haven't been able to listen in depth yet, but that first song on the page seems pretty cool. I also have been listening to my senior project and thinking of things I would do differently if I had more studio time. Live and learn.
Tomorrow is going to be great, because I don't have to get up at 6:15. I think I am eating lunch with my dad, and of course I always have Oliver and Lucy to take care of. I just hope Oliver remembers where his litter box is!
I had two tests today, Psychology and Micro lab. I spent Monday and Tuesday studying for Psychology, because it has a higher weight than my Micro lab test. Last night Kristi's friends came over, so I socialized, and then went to study for my lab test when they left at 10:45. It was then that I realized I had left my lab book in lab. This posed quite a few problems...well actually one big one, which was that I had no conceivable way of studying anything. Not only was my book there, but my review sheet was in my book, which contained a list of what I needed to know.
I decided that I would just have to wake up really early, go to Tech, and find someone to let me in the lab. I tried not to stress too much, as the lab test is only 7.5% of my final grade, and I got in bed. It was then that I realized I was supposed to go to a "Career Talk" earlier that evening. I have to go to one before I apply to nursing school, and they only have them sparingly. I had asked Joe if I could leave early and everything a couple weeks ago, but I probably hadn't thought about it for 4 days, hence I completely forgot to go. The next one is in the afternoon during Jingle Jazz week, which isn't ideal, but I guess I have to go. Joe was nice about it, which was a big relief. Not that he's ever mean, but I pretty much just screwed up by forgetting. So I think in my paper I will put that I do not consider myself an adult, because I apparently cannot remember extremely important things that I need to do.
Anyways, I woke up at 6:15, took a quick shower, and left to take Lucy to my parents' house. They had no idea I would be there so early, because I didn't want to wake them up by calling either last night or this morning. They were a little surprised, but I think it was OK. I knew dad would be waking up for work anyways. I left quickly and got to the Nursing building around 7:30. None of the teachers on the second floor were in their office, so I asked a janitor if she could let me in. As I suspected, they are not allowed to let students into labs...what with infectious organisms and all. I read through all the posted office hours of teachers on the wall, and none were going to be there until at least 8:30, so I went downstairs to an office that I had seen open. Inside was a nursing instructor who was extremely nice. I'm not sure that she was technically allowed to let me in either, but she told me if I went straight in and got the book that she would do it. I tried to express my appreciation adequately, but I think I might slip a thank you note under her door later this week.
All in all I got into my car at about 7:45 and was able to study all the way up until 9:00, when I went in to get ready for my Psychology test. Both tests went really well, and it was a big relief. After all the stress I decided I needed a break, so I came home to hang out with Oliver before going to work. I ate lunch while I was home, and then decided to go to Best Buy on my way in.
At Best Buy I picked up the new Lovedrug CD. I absolutely loved their first album, but their second seemed really disjointed. It had some really good stand alone songs on it, but as a whole it just didn't feel right. I think there were alot of band transitions at the time, like members changing, which may have added to the issue. This album is called "The Sucker Punch Show," and while it definitely is more cohesive, I am not really sure I like it. I feel like they strayed a good bit from the qualities that made their first album so good, and overall it's just kind of weird. It may be one of those things where the creativity grows on my after a while, but I know there are some things about the production I definitely don't like. For instance, on number 7 the snare has a weird sound. I'm not sure if it was on purpose, but even if it was it just ended up sounding really crappy. I will keep giving it a chance though, and may comment more on it later.
Funny story...at Best Buy I was third in line waiting to check out. The guy checking out was taking forever because he was using a personal check, and they were having to go through the whole special process. I never ever see people pay by check, and was contemplating how odd it was that Best Buy even takes checks when it was time for the guy in front of me to pay. He steps up and no joke...pulls out his check book. I tried to savor the moment...it's not every day you see two people using checks to pay. If you still pay by check, I hope I didn't offend you...checks are cool, seriously...
Work was a little monotonous today, because we completely re-worked the stage setup. I actually didn't think it looked as good as usual yesterday, but setting it back up a different way is such a pain. Joe told me to have a good attitude, so I did my best. He helped me, which made it not so bad.
We went to eat a quick dinner at Hunan K after finishing, and it was delicious. The only thing I don't like is that there are no free refills, but I guess that's better for them. They probably do alot of takeout anyways. I could eat fried rice every day of the week. Kristi called me to tell me she got a speeding ticket while we were eating. She was kind of upset, but I didn't really think it was a big deal. She just lost track of how fast she was going, I'm guessing it'll probably happen again to one of us sometime in the future. I don't think it was even enough to make our insurance go up, so it's just kind of a minor bump in the road (no pun intended...or was it).
Tonight I ran sound, and it was actually alot of fun. This week is very unique, in that there is not really a band. Instead there are 7 violins, a double bass, piano, keys, and acoustic guitar. For the violins I miced each individually, and then set up 2 Shure LDC's left and right to capture the overall sound with some ambience. I'm using the little tiny Audix SDC on the double bass, and then normal stuff on everything else. The bass dude wasn't here tonight, but it still sounded really great. I had to fight feedback with all the condensers for a while, especially the KSM LDC's...but with some gates, less compression, and some work on the monitors everything seems to be feedback free and fairly stable. Feedback during a service is one of my biggest fears, because there is just nothing more distracting. One thing I did to the sound this week that I think made a big difference is made a small cut around 4.5kHz on the center and stereo outs (the main fader controls left and right, and the center cluster is fed off of a bus). I always find myself fighting harshness when I run sound, and I think it is mostly in the 5kHz area. Since I am always cutting there with most things that occupy that range, I figured why not just take it out of the mains. I only cut about 2dB with a pretty wide Q, but I think it really made a difference. It's a little hard to tell because the band isn't playing, but I'm going to try something similar next time I run with the full band. I'm thinking about setting my digital camera up on the mixer and hitting record just so I can get an ambient recording to post on here Sunday. It's gonna be good!
I got home around 9:30 and played with the pets some. Oliver and Lucy are getting along better and better. Lucy doesn't get nearly as excited, and Oliver doesn't seem scared of her. If she gets too out of hand he just slaps her in the nose a few times and she backs off. I got into bed a little after 10 and have been watching live performances on Youtube and looking for new music ever since. I found this one band called Darkroom. I haven't been able to listen in depth yet, but that first song on the page seems pretty cool. I also have been listening to my senior project and thinking of things I would do differently if I had more studio time. Live and learn.
Tomorrow is going to be great, because I don't have to get up at 6:15. I think I am eating lunch with my dad, and of course I always have Oliver and Lucy to take care of. I just hope Oliver remembers where his litter box is!
Monday, November 10, 2008
I found it amusing that when filling out the address for an application to adopt a kitten, our house was on "Garfield Lane."
As anxious as I am about owning my first cat, I think Lucy is doubly anxious. Last night Lucy woke me up every 3 hours to go out. After she got down she would proceed to sit in front of the laundry room door where we are keeping the kitten. We would go out and then go back to sleep, only for me to be awoken again 3 hours later with Lucy standing on top of me with the kitten crying in the background. Hopefully this will get better with time.
I woke up a little after 9 and said good morning to the kitten. I don't really know how to treat kittens, but I think he likes me because he pretty much purrs the entire time I pet him. I got ready and then took Lucy on her first walk of the day. I assume I'll be taking her for a ridiculous amount of walks for the next few weeks so that she remains as calm as possible around the kitten. When we got back I checked on the kitten again and then left for school.
Lab was fine today. We are working on our last project of the semester, which is identifying two unknown bateria (gram positive and negative). The instructions are pretty well laid out, so it's kind of more like just following a series of steps which lead to a specific bacteria. I'm sure if it was Clemson we would just be given a broth culture and given no instruction. Ah the joys of Greenville Tech.
I debated going to lecture for a long time, but decided to come home. I am glad I did, because Lucy was wreaking havoc on the sun room when I got home. Usually she just sleeps while I'm gone, but I think the kitten was probably driving her crazy with it's meowing. Her food and water bowls were overturned, and she had started to chew apart the baby gate. I think I'll be leaving her in her crate until she gets a little more used to having a cat in the house.
I ate some lunch and then I took Lucy for her second walk. When we got back she was pretty calm, so I decided to let the two pets interact some. Things went pretty well. The kitten for the most part doesn't mind Lucy, just is a little intimidated by her. Lucy on the other hand just gets extremely excited about having another living animal around. She typically just sniffs the kitten like crazy, pokes him with her nose, and yips every now and then. If the kitten hides too much Lucy starts to get angry, but can be snapped out of it with some correction. So far it doesn't seem like Lucy wants to act on her hunting small animals instinct, so that is encouraging.
I emailed Kristi to tell her about the day with the kitten, and also to ask what she was going to name him. I was getting extremely tired of calling him "Kitty." Kristi had thought about the name Oscar, but decided that he wasn't scruffy enough for that name, and has settled on Oliver. Welcome to the fam, Oliver:
I woke up a little after 9 and said good morning to the kitten. I don't really know how to treat kittens, but I think he likes me because he pretty much purrs the entire time I pet him. I got ready and then took Lucy on her first walk of the day. I assume I'll be taking her for a ridiculous amount of walks for the next few weeks so that she remains as calm as possible around the kitten. When we got back I checked on the kitten again and then left for school.
Lab was fine today. We are working on our last project of the semester, which is identifying two unknown bateria (gram positive and negative). The instructions are pretty well laid out, so it's kind of more like just following a series of steps which lead to a specific bacteria. I'm sure if it was Clemson we would just be given a broth culture and given no instruction. Ah the joys of Greenville Tech.
I debated going to lecture for a long time, but decided to come home. I am glad I did, because Lucy was wreaking havoc on the sun room when I got home. Usually she just sleeps while I'm gone, but I think the kitten was probably driving her crazy with it's meowing. Her food and water bowls were overturned, and she had started to chew apart the baby gate. I think I'll be leaving her in her crate until she gets a little more used to having a cat in the house.
I ate some lunch and then I took Lucy for her second walk. When we got back she was pretty calm, so I decided to let the two pets interact some. Things went pretty well. The kitten for the most part doesn't mind Lucy, just is a little intimidated by her. Lucy on the other hand just gets extremely excited about having another living animal around. She typically just sniffs the kitten like crazy, pokes him with her nose, and yips every now and then. If the kitten hides too much Lucy starts to get angry, but can be snapped out of it with some correction. So far it doesn't seem like Lucy wants to act on her hunting small animals instinct, so that is encouraging.
I emailed Kristi to tell her about the day with the kitten, and also to ask what she was going to name him. I was getting extremely tired of calling him "Kitty." Kristi had thought about the name Oscar, but decided that he wasn't scruffy enough for that name, and has settled on Oliver. Welcome to the fam, Oliver:
For the rest of the afternoon I got a few things done and tried to keep Lucy calm. When the kitten is in the laundry room Lucy is a nervous wreck, constantly pacing and barking. It's really driving me crazy, but it's only the second day. I checked my auction on ebay and saw that my head sold for just under 200, pretty good if you ask me. Right now I am leaning towards getting a snare, just because I have a really hard time passing up musical equipment. I've decided I would really like a 6.5 x 14, just because I always seem to like the sound of snare drums that are a little deeper. I also don't really mind my junk Yamaha 5.5 x 14, so the different size would give me some variety. Although, I may still go with another 5.5 if it's a good enough deal. Just for fun I made a ridiculously low offer on a 7 x 14 Yamaha Maple Custom drum in one of those "best offer" auctions on ebay. I figure times are tough, maybe the music shop really wants to get rid of some stuff. Can't hurt to ask, right? Plus, it's sparkly white, which is my favorite.
Kristi got home a little after 5 and played with Oliver some. I was going stir crazy from being in a house with an insane dog, so we went out to eat at La Fogata. It's our favorite mexican restaurant...good food and pretty cheap. I ended up just getting cheese quesadillas tonight, which is a little boring. Afterwards we stopped at Target so Kristi could pick something up and then headed home. The evening was spent watching football, studying for psychology, and watching Lucy and Oliver interact. Things are still going pretty well. Oliver swatted at Lucy once, but really I wish he would do it more so that Lucy would gain a little more respect. He seems to be a really easy going cat though, so generally he lets Lucy bother him as much as she wants. We all got into bed around 10:30. Lucy laid down between my legs and was snoring withing 30 seconds. I think the new family member is wearing her out.
Tomorrow I am going to plant the 4 remaining plants in the back yard and try to study a little more before going to work. I will have 2 tests on Wednesday, so I'd like to get as much done as possible since I will only get home from work around 9. Maybe Oliver can keep Lucy occupied for most of the morning so that I can get things done. Somehow I doubt that's going to be how it works out.
In closing I'll leave you with some pictures of the yard progress...sorry it took so long to get them up! You can look at this post to see what the mulch beds were like before (there were no mulch on the sides or in the back before).
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Still no pictures...I really need to take some tomorrow...
I feel like my life is moving non-stop lately, and today definitely added to the feeling. I got up early and got to church around 7:15. I wasn't sure what I was doing because Joe didn't have me written down for anything, which usually means I will do the job of whoever decides not to show up. Sure enough, one of the camera guys had let Joe know last minute that he wouldn't be there, so I got to run a camera. I didn't have to do anything too complicated, so I think it went fine.
After church Kristi and I went to lunch with her family, and then left and went to Linens and Things to get a Christmas gift for my grandmother. They are going out of business, so we were looking for some deals. There were alot of people, but really the prices weren't that great. Almost everything was only 20% off, and they weren't accepting coupons. Kristi had a 20% off coupon, so really we weren't saving any more money than usual. Oh well, we got what we needed.
We stopped at Ross after that and then decided to go to Petsmart. Kristi has been looking for an 8 week old orange and white kitten ever since we have been married pretty much. We actually got Lucy only because we found her before we found a kitten. Well, at Petsmart on Sundays they have KAT, a local cat no kill foster program. As luck would have it, they had an orange and white kitten, 8 weeks old, that Kristi loved. That's right, I Andrew Stoeber am a cat owner for the first time in my life.
I really don't mind having a cat at all. I don't love them like I do dogs, but I think they are nice animals. We got all the paraphernalia that you need for a cat and came home. We devised a good plan for the introduction to Lucy. She is half Jack Russell, and Jack Russells have a very strong hunt and kill instinct when it comes to small animals...it's what they were bred for. Lucy however has done fine in other houses with cats, and she generally likes all animals, so we feel pretty sure that she will get used to the cat. Anyways, our plan was that I would take her for a walk while Kristi got the kitten situated and then we would try some introducing when we got back.
I think it was a good idea, because Lucy was much calmer after her walk. We brought her in and left that cat in the carrier for her to discover (the kitten hides in their non-stop, it's a little timid). At first Lucy didn't care too much about it, but when she figured out what it was she got extremely excited. We got the cat out and Kristi held it while Lucy sniffed. She was way too excited and just barked her head off the entire time. The good news is that I think she just wanted to play, because she seemed very happy and curious...and also the kitten wasn't really phased by the commotion. There were a few small hisses here and there, but nothing major.
After the brief introduction we put the kitten in the laundry room with all of its necessities, and that is where it will stay for a while. Everything we read says to let both animals get used to each other's smell for a few days and then start letting them occupy the same space little by little. Hopefully things go well or we will be in a predicament.
I sat down to do some research on Jack Russells and cats, but I didn't really find anything I didn't already know. Some Jack Russells hate cats and kill them, and lots of others get along fine with them...not really helpful information at all. I did however find this story. I laughed alot when I read it, and then got really sad at the end. What a good story though. All you non-animal people probably think I'm weird, but to you I say: "whatever dude."
Around 7 Kristi left to show her parents the kitten and I left to go to a show at The Channel. I had several people tell me they would probably go, but no one ended up coming with me. I think my problem is that all my friends either don't like shows, are married, or have to be up really early for their full-time job. Just a sign that I'm getting old I guess. I had a good time, and thankfully my friend Daniel Bunn was also there by himself. The first band that played was Parachute Musical. Musically they were one of the best bands I've seen in a while. They were by far the tightest band tonight, and they were all amazing technically. Their music was kind of a rougher Maroon 5 type thing, and had alot of Jazz influences. I really enjoyed listening to them, but didn't really fall in love with any of their songs. I like bands who seem completely sold out to their songs, and not that there's weren't good, but they seemed more like amazing musicians who write and perform songs, not good musicians who are completely into the message and the music of what they write. I realize a big part of stage presence is theatrical, so I don't want to over analyze, but I can't help the vibes that I feel from bands. I don't know if that makes sense, but at least I know what I'm trying to say.
After that a band called Torches played. My good friend Ryan was filling in for them on guitar and they were alright. Only the singer and drummer were actually members of the band, and the other two had learned the songs earlier today. Needless to say, they weren't quite as cohesive as the other bands.
The last band was All Get Out, which was why I really wanted to go to the show. Their songs are good, but watching them play them live is pretty amazing. I don't feel like their Myspace represents them well at all, so if you get a chance you should go see them. They're fairly local, so they're around alot.
After the show I came home, checked on the kitten, and then got in bed. Tomorrow I'll probably skip Psychology so that I can sleep a little and take care of the pets. The whole kitten thing stresses me out a little because I am going to be so crazy busy with school and work the next 3-4 weeks. But cats do fine on their own right? We'll find out soon if ours does...
After church Kristi and I went to lunch with her family, and then left and went to Linens and Things to get a Christmas gift for my grandmother. They are going out of business, so we were looking for some deals. There were alot of people, but really the prices weren't that great. Almost everything was only 20% off, and they weren't accepting coupons. Kristi had a 20% off coupon, so really we weren't saving any more money than usual. Oh well, we got what we needed.
We stopped at Ross after that and then decided to go to Petsmart. Kristi has been looking for an 8 week old orange and white kitten ever since we have been married pretty much. We actually got Lucy only because we found her before we found a kitten. Well, at Petsmart on Sundays they have KAT, a local cat no kill foster program. As luck would have it, they had an orange and white kitten, 8 weeks old, that Kristi loved. That's right, I Andrew Stoeber am a cat owner for the first time in my life.
I really don't mind having a cat at all. I don't love them like I do dogs, but I think they are nice animals. We got all the paraphernalia that you need for a cat and came home. We devised a good plan for the introduction to Lucy. She is half Jack Russell, and Jack Russells have a very strong hunt and kill instinct when it comes to small animals...it's what they were bred for. Lucy however has done fine in other houses with cats, and she generally likes all animals, so we feel pretty sure that she will get used to the cat. Anyways, our plan was that I would take her for a walk while Kristi got the kitten situated and then we would try some introducing when we got back.
I think it was a good idea, because Lucy was much calmer after her walk. We brought her in and left that cat in the carrier for her to discover (the kitten hides in their non-stop, it's a little timid). At first Lucy didn't care too much about it, but when she figured out what it was she got extremely excited. We got the cat out and Kristi held it while Lucy sniffed. She was way too excited and just barked her head off the entire time. The good news is that I think she just wanted to play, because she seemed very happy and curious...and also the kitten wasn't really phased by the commotion. There were a few small hisses here and there, but nothing major.
After the brief introduction we put the kitten in the laundry room with all of its necessities, and that is where it will stay for a while. Everything we read says to let both animals get used to each other's smell for a few days and then start letting them occupy the same space little by little. Hopefully things go well or we will be in a predicament.
I sat down to do some research on Jack Russells and cats, but I didn't really find anything I didn't already know. Some Jack Russells hate cats and kill them, and lots of others get along fine with them...not really helpful information at all. I did however find this story. I laughed alot when I read it, and then got really sad at the end. What a good story though. All you non-animal people probably think I'm weird, but to you I say: "whatever dude."
Around 7 Kristi left to show her parents the kitten and I left to go to a show at The Channel. I had several people tell me they would probably go, but no one ended up coming with me. I think my problem is that all my friends either don't like shows, are married, or have to be up really early for their full-time job. Just a sign that I'm getting old I guess. I had a good time, and thankfully my friend Daniel Bunn was also there by himself. The first band that played was Parachute Musical. Musically they were one of the best bands I've seen in a while. They were by far the tightest band tonight, and they were all amazing technically. Their music was kind of a rougher Maroon 5 type thing, and had alot of Jazz influences. I really enjoyed listening to them, but didn't really fall in love with any of their songs. I like bands who seem completely sold out to their songs, and not that there's weren't good, but they seemed more like amazing musicians who write and perform songs, not good musicians who are completely into the message and the music of what they write. I realize a big part of stage presence is theatrical, so I don't want to over analyze, but I can't help the vibes that I feel from bands. I don't know if that makes sense, but at least I know what I'm trying to say.
After that a band called Torches played. My good friend Ryan was filling in for them on guitar and they were alright. Only the singer and drummer were actually members of the band, and the other two had learned the songs earlier today. Needless to say, they weren't quite as cohesive as the other bands.
The last band was All Get Out, which was why I really wanted to go to the show. Their songs are good, but watching them play them live is pretty amazing. I don't feel like their Myspace represents them well at all, so if you get a chance you should go see them. They're fairly local, so they're around alot.
After the show I came home, checked on the kitten, and then got in bed. Tomorrow I'll probably skip Psychology so that I can sleep a little and take care of the pets. The whole kitten thing stresses me out a little because I am going to be so crazy busy with school and work the next 3-4 weeks. But cats do fine on their own right? We'll find out soon if ours does...
Saturday, November 8, 2008
I know you were expecting pictures...try not to be too disappointed.
Today was one of those days where I felt like I rushed the entire day. I got alot done, but at the end of the day feel worn out. It's Saturdays like this one that make me glad I have Thursdays off.
I got up at 7:45 and left the house at 8:00. Yesterday I had switched cars with Steven Halbert. He has a little Nissan truck that he has had ever since we were in high school together, and I wanted to use it to pick up mulch. At the "Twin Chimneys Landfill," which is in Honea Path, they give away free mulch to anyone who can haul it away. It isn't the greatest quality because it consists of any yard waste brought there, including grass and leaves, but hey...it's free. On my way out I stopped to get some gas and then ran in Home Depot to get a pitchfork. If you are the person who does mulching with a shovel, you really need to get a pitchfork, it's tons easier.
I got to the landfill around 9 and found the mulch loading location. The lady that I asked was extremely grumpy and treated me like I was a bother. It's her job to sit there and tell people where to go and I was very cordial, so I don't know what her deal was. I try to keep in mind when people are grumpy that they could just be going through rough things in their life, and I should probably just have a little grace for them. Sometimes it works, sometimes not so much.
The whole loading process is cool. You back up to this enormous mulch pile, and then this guy in a massive front end loader picks up mulch and puts it in your truck...and I mean massive. One load of this stuff not only filled the truck up all the way to the top of the cab, it was on the hood and everywhere else also.
After I got my load I pulled over to the side and got out Steven's tarp. Apparently it's a law that you "tarp your load," or so I read online. I had a long piece of rope and a bungee, which I assumed would be enough. This was a big mistake...I'm such a newbie. I got the tarp tied down after a great deal of struggling to connect it to the hooks in the bed. Apparently digging through tons of mulch to get to the hooks is extremely difficult. Live and learn I guess. When I started driving away, it was obvious my tarp job was sub par. I was losing mulch everywhere, so I pulled over and tried to fix things. It wasn't much better, but I made back to 418 where there was a Dollar Tree where I was able to buy more rope and some scissors. This helped a great deal, and I got the tarp tied down much better. After that I took it easy and made it home by about 10:30 with most of the mulch intact. I was glad to be back as the entire ordeal with the tarp was incredibly stressful.I always tend to be judgemental about people in situations until God puts me in a similar situation. After that I tend to have alot of grace for people. Let me tell you...next time I am behind a slow moving pickup with mulch blowing off the back, I will feel sorry for them, especially if they are my age.
My mom had dropped by to say hi, so Kristi and I talked to her for a while and then got started on the mulching. The process went quickly and it showed me how much area of mulch bed my parents actually have. We used to literally get a tractor trailer full of mulch dumped in the cul-de-sac, and then it would take a long day of 6-10 people working to get it all spread around their yard. Thankfully our mulch beds aren't nearly as large. Really it's not even comparable.
I finished unloading the truck bed by 12:40 and took off for the landfill again. It looked like one more load would do it, and their next load time was 1-3 pm. I got there a little after 1 only to find out that the front end loader had broken, and I would have to wait until the guy came back with another one. I think God puts me in situations like this to help me be patient. I sat in the truck for about 30 minutes and tried to just enjoy the time listening to the radio. I'll admit, I was relieved when I saw another front end loader come over the hill. This time I had been very smart and tied the ropes to the hooks and hung them over the side before the load was put in. This made putting the tarp on much easier, and I was off quickly after being loaded up for the second time.
When I got home I ate a quick lunch and headed back outside. I unloaded mulch while Kristi spread it around, which was her job for the day. Lucy's job was apparently finding trash in the mulch and eating it, which is what she did the entire day. Hopefully she isn't going to be sick tomorrow morning, it is such a pain when she is. We finished around 4 and cleaned up Steven's truck. Kristi did a great job cleaning the inside, and then I washed the outside. It was filthy! After I washed it, much of the driveway was covered in dirt. I spent time washing it to the sides and then using the push broom to get the dirty water into the grass. I didn't want the driveway to get stained, which would create another chore of pressure washing for me. When I was done I went inside and took a shower. I know I promised pictures today, but it was getting dark when I went in. Everything looks really good, and I promise I will take some pictures tomorrow afternoon as long as it isn't raining.
Kristi and I went over to her cousin's house tonight for dinner. We had shrimp and grits, and it was so delicious. I'm not really a shrimp and grits person, but the shrimp part had sausage like low country boil and was really good. Even the grits were good. I thoroughly enjoyed the meal. We also watched the Clemson vs. FSU game. Most of the people there were FSU fans because they either went there or lived close to the school, so I tried to quietly cheer for Clemson. We didn't pull it out, but we did score 27 points. I see this season as lost, so as long as our offense continues to improve I feel better and better about next year. By the way, I knew Penn State was going to lose today. They haven't played anyone good all year, and I thought Iowa would be their downfall. I even told Kristi when Penn State was ahead that they were going to lose...you can ask her.
After dinner and dessert we drove Steven's truck back to him and then came home. Even Lucy was tired from all the activity today, because when we came home it seemed like she had slept the whole 4 hours we were gone.
Tomorrow should be a good day. I don't have too many responsibilities tomorrow morning, which will be a nice break. Tomorrow night I am going to go to a show at the Channel which I am really excited about. My good friend Ryan is opening with his band "Torches," and then "All Get Out" is headlining. I really liked them last time I saw them there, so I am excited to go see them again. This music talk reminds me, my Marshall has got a few bids on it, and I'm hoping it goes for over 150$. I was thinking about getting boots and bindings, but that snare is so tempting...
I got up at 7:45 and left the house at 8:00. Yesterday I had switched cars with Steven Halbert. He has a little Nissan truck that he has had ever since we were in high school together, and I wanted to use it to pick up mulch. At the "Twin Chimneys Landfill," which is in Honea Path, they give away free mulch to anyone who can haul it away. It isn't the greatest quality because it consists of any yard waste brought there, including grass and leaves, but hey...it's free. On my way out I stopped to get some gas and then ran in Home Depot to get a pitchfork. If you are the person who does mulching with a shovel, you really need to get a pitchfork, it's tons easier.
I got to the landfill around 9 and found the mulch loading location. The lady that I asked was extremely grumpy and treated me like I was a bother. It's her job to sit there and tell people where to go and I was very cordial, so I don't know what her deal was. I try to keep in mind when people are grumpy that they could just be going through rough things in their life, and I should probably just have a little grace for them. Sometimes it works, sometimes not so much.
The whole loading process is cool. You back up to this enormous mulch pile, and then this guy in a massive front end loader picks up mulch and puts it in your truck...and I mean massive. One load of this stuff not only filled the truck up all the way to the top of the cab, it was on the hood and everywhere else also.
After I got my load I pulled over to the side and got out Steven's tarp. Apparently it's a law that you "tarp your load," or so I read online. I had a long piece of rope and a bungee, which I assumed would be enough. This was a big mistake...I'm such a newbie. I got the tarp tied down after a great deal of struggling to connect it to the hooks in the bed. Apparently digging through tons of mulch to get to the hooks is extremely difficult. Live and learn I guess. When I started driving away, it was obvious my tarp job was sub par. I was losing mulch everywhere, so I pulled over and tried to fix things. It wasn't much better, but I made back to 418 where there was a Dollar Tree where I was able to buy more rope and some scissors. This helped a great deal, and I got the tarp tied down much better. After that I took it easy and made it home by about 10:30 with most of the mulch intact. I was glad to be back as the entire ordeal with the tarp was incredibly stressful.I always tend to be judgemental about people in situations until God puts me in a similar situation. After that I tend to have alot of grace for people. Let me tell you...next time I am behind a slow moving pickup with mulch blowing off the back, I will feel sorry for them, especially if they are my age.
My mom had dropped by to say hi, so Kristi and I talked to her for a while and then got started on the mulching. The process went quickly and it showed me how much area of mulch bed my parents actually have. We used to literally get a tractor trailer full of mulch dumped in the cul-de-sac, and then it would take a long day of 6-10 people working to get it all spread around their yard. Thankfully our mulch beds aren't nearly as large. Really it's not even comparable.
I finished unloading the truck bed by 12:40 and took off for the landfill again. It looked like one more load would do it, and their next load time was 1-3 pm. I got there a little after 1 only to find out that the front end loader had broken, and I would have to wait until the guy came back with another one. I think God puts me in situations like this to help me be patient. I sat in the truck for about 30 minutes and tried to just enjoy the time listening to the radio. I'll admit, I was relieved when I saw another front end loader come over the hill. This time I had been very smart and tied the ropes to the hooks and hung them over the side before the load was put in. This made putting the tarp on much easier, and I was off quickly after being loaded up for the second time.
When I got home I ate a quick lunch and headed back outside. I unloaded mulch while Kristi spread it around, which was her job for the day. Lucy's job was apparently finding trash in the mulch and eating it, which is what she did the entire day. Hopefully she isn't going to be sick tomorrow morning, it is such a pain when she is. We finished around 4 and cleaned up Steven's truck. Kristi did a great job cleaning the inside, and then I washed the outside. It was filthy! After I washed it, much of the driveway was covered in dirt. I spent time washing it to the sides and then using the push broom to get the dirty water into the grass. I didn't want the driveway to get stained, which would create another chore of pressure washing for me. When I was done I went inside and took a shower. I know I promised pictures today, but it was getting dark when I went in. Everything looks really good, and I promise I will take some pictures tomorrow afternoon as long as it isn't raining.
Kristi and I went over to her cousin's house tonight for dinner. We had shrimp and grits, and it was so delicious. I'm not really a shrimp and grits person, but the shrimp part had sausage like low country boil and was really good. Even the grits were good. I thoroughly enjoyed the meal. We also watched the Clemson vs. FSU game. Most of the people there were FSU fans because they either went there or lived close to the school, so I tried to quietly cheer for Clemson. We didn't pull it out, but we did score 27 points. I see this season as lost, so as long as our offense continues to improve I feel better and better about next year. By the way, I knew Penn State was going to lose today. They haven't played anyone good all year, and I thought Iowa would be their downfall. I even told Kristi when Penn State was ahead that they were going to lose...you can ask her.
After dinner and dessert we drove Steven's truck back to him and then came home. Even Lucy was tired from all the activity today, because when we came home it seemed like she had slept the whole 4 hours we were gone.
Tomorrow should be a good day. I don't have too many responsibilities tomorrow morning, which will be a nice break. Tomorrow night I am going to go to a show at the Channel which I am really excited about. My good friend Ryan is opening with his band "Torches," and then "All Get Out" is headlining. I really liked them last time I saw them there, so I am excited to go see them again. This music talk reminds me, my Marshall has got a few bids on it, and I'm hoping it goes for over 150$. I was thinking about getting boots and bindings, but that snare is so tempting...
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Be looking for my new line of plants named "Death Star Daises" at Home Depot soon...
It felt pretty good to sleep in this morning. I got up a little before 9:45 and was a little sad that sleeping in now means anything past 9. I remember the days when sleeping in meant anything past 11. Whenever I get sad about things like that though, I just remember my poor wife who gets up before 7 almost every day. I am so grateful she doesn't mind that I don't wake up with her.
After I woke up I went straight outside to get some yard work done. I brought Lucy along with me and put her on the cable in the front yard, but she seemed really tired and like she wasn't having too much fun. I put her back inside and continued. First I planted 3 Firepower Nandina in the front of the mulch bed. I'm pretty sure the name of that plant is just a marketing scheme. Sure it turns red, but how can you not buy a plant with "Firepower" in the name? I'm sure if it was "Red Nandina" or "Cherry Nandina" I would have gotten something else. But "Firepower"...that'll sell.
I next moved on to the other pansy bed. It is straight across from the other one. Everything looks really good, but I refrained from taking pictures because this Saturday we are going to mulch, and I would rather wait until then. It's kind of like suspense for those of you who read my blog. You thought you could skip a few days, but now you have to come back on Saturday just to see the progress. I need all the help I can get.
By time I was done planting, and after I watered all the other plants, it was time for lunch. I came inside and got Lucy some food and then had a Jose Ole chimichanga. These things are delicious. They don't sell them at Wal-Mart, just Publix, so every now and then I go to Publix and buy an entire box. I hadn't had one since we moved to Simpsonville, so it was especially good.
After lunch Lucy kept pesting me to talk her on her w-a-l-k, so I went ahead and did that. It was a beautiful day, so I let her romp around a little more than usual. I think she appreciated it, because she left me alone for the rest of the day.
When we got back I went ahead and cleaned some. Cleaning our bathroom is much more of a pain than our bathroom in Columbia was, so I kind of dread it each week. I got that done though, and also cleaned the other bathroom as well as vacuumed. I was going to dust, but nothing seemed very dusty, so I decided to wait until next week.
I decided to work on my guitar body after I finished. I have slowly been making progress, and am really close to finishing spraying so I can let it cure. Last time I put some coats on another Mosquito flew into the lacquer, so I waited until it cured a little to continue. Today I got the mosquito out and smoothed the entire body with some fine steel wool. I am putting the last can of lacquer on, so I want as little "orange peel" as possible. This makes buffing alot easier (or so I read). Today I sprayed lacquer on the back, and then as I was turning it over my arm brushed where I had just sprayed...awesome. So now I am letting it cure some again so I can go over the back with steel wool again. This whole process is teaching me alot of patience at least. I think I've probably been working on it for something like 8 or 9 months now.
I was thinking today that maybe since I'm almost done with the body I should buy a neck instead of a snare drum. Then I also thought about my snowboard boots and bindings which need replacing. I have some vouchers for lift tickets to Beech, so I will definitely be going sometime this year, and my boots are just not up to the task. Last time I used them it hurt, and I had huge blisters when I was done. I would rather not repeat that experience. Originally I was thinking I would wait for my birthday to get a guitar neck, but now I'm thinking I might be done a good bit before that. And then of course, I would really like to start replacing my drums, but that could definitely be put on hold. Who's got an opinion? Someone leave a comment or something.
After I finished working on the guitar I watched some ESPN and updated my facebook profile. I decided I didn't need the "Interested In" part and the "Looking For" part anymore so I took those off. I guess facebook couldn't tell what sex I was after that because when I signed back on it said something like; "Your profile could be confusing, how should facebook be listing your updates?" And then it had a choice between "Andrew just updated his profile" and "Andrew just updated her profile." Talk about demoralizing. Come on facebook, don't we know each other by now? Anyways, I made sure to clear that up right away...I can only imagine the comments I would get on my wall.
I started making dinner right before Kristi got home. I made the pan seared chicken I like so much and then just some buttered noodles and broccoli. Any time I make dinner it reminds me how unhealthy eating out generally is. I feel so much better afterwards than when I eat a bunch of fried food out somewhere. Unfortunately my life right now kind of dictates that. Oh well, at least I'm back to cooking sometimes now.
After dinner Kristi and I went to get some dessert at Starbucks (for her) and Chik-fil-A (for me). Man do I love icedreams. We watched tv when we got back and then headed to bed.
Tomorrow should be a good day. I think I am meeting my friend Daniel for lunch, and then tomorrow night I think Kristi and I are going to find something fun to do. I hope tomorrow is fun, because Saturday I will be doing my second least favorite yard chore...mulching.
After I woke up I went straight outside to get some yard work done. I brought Lucy along with me and put her on the cable in the front yard, but she seemed really tired and like she wasn't having too much fun. I put her back inside and continued. First I planted 3 Firepower Nandina in the front of the mulch bed. I'm pretty sure the name of that plant is just a marketing scheme. Sure it turns red, but how can you not buy a plant with "Firepower" in the name? I'm sure if it was "Red Nandina" or "Cherry Nandina" I would have gotten something else. But "Firepower"...that'll sell.
I next moved on to the other pansy bed. It is straight across from the other one. Everything looks really good, but I refrained from taking pictures because this Saturday we are going to mulch, and I would rather wait until then. It's kind of like suspense for those of you who read my blog. You thought you could skip a few days, but now you have to come back on Saturday just to see the progress. I need all the help I can get.
By time I was done planting, and after I watered all the other plants, it was time for lunch. I came inside and got Lucy some food and then had a Jose Ole chimichanga. These things are delicious. They don't sell them at Wal-Mart, just Publix, so every now and then I go to Publix and buy an entire box. I hadn't had one since we moved to Simpsonville, so it was especially good.
After lunch Lucy kept pesting me to talk her on her w-a-l-k, so I went ahead and did that. It was a beautiful day, so I let her romp around a little more than usual. I think she appreciated it, because she left me alone for the rest of the day.
When we got back I went ahead and cleaned some. Cleaning our bathroom is much more of a pain than our bathroom in Columbia was, so I kind of dread it each week. I got that done though, and also cleaned the other bathroom as well as vacuumed. I was going to dust, but nothing seemed very dusty, so I decided to wait until next week.
I decided to work on my guitar body after I finished. I have slowly been making progress, and am really close to finishing spraying so I can let it cure. Last time I put some coats on another Mosquito flew into the lacquer, so I waited until it cured a little to continue. Today I got the mosquito out and smoothed the entire body with some fine steel wool. I am putting the last can of lacquer on, so I want as little "orange peel" as possible. This makes buffing alot easier (or so I read). Today I sprayed lacquer on the back, and then as I was turning it over my arm brushed where I had just sprayed...awesome. So now I am letting it cure some again so I can go over the back with steel wool again. This whole process is teaching me alot of patience at least. I think I've probably been working on it for something like 8 or 9 months now.
I was thinking today that maybe since I'm almost done with the body I should buy a neck instead of a snare drum. Then I also thought about my snowboard boots and bindings which need replacing. I have some vouchers for lift tickets to Beech, so I will definitely be going sometime this year, and my boots are just not up to the task. Last time I used them it hurt, and I had huge blisters when I was done. I would rather not repeat that experience. Originally I was thinking I would wait for my birthday to get a guitar neck, but now I'm thinking I might be done a good bit before that. And then of course, I would really like to start replacing my drums, but that could definitely be put on hold. Who's got an opinion? Someone leave a comment or something.
After I finished working on the guitar I watched some ESPN and updated my facebook profile. I decided I didn't need the "Interested In" part and the "Looking For" part anymore so I took those off. I guess facebook couldn't tell what sex I was after that because when I signed back on it said something like; "Your profile could be confusing, how should facebook be listing your updates?" And then it had a choice between "Andrew just updated his profile" and "Andrew just updated her profile." Talk about demoralizing. Come on facebook, don't we know each other by now? Anyways, I made sure to clear that up right away...I can only imagine the comments I would get on my wall.
I started making dinner right before Kristi got home. I made the pan seared chicken I like so much and then just some buttered noodles and broccoli. Any time I make dinner it reminds me how unhealthy eating out generally is. I feel so much better afterwards than when I eat a bunch of fried food out somewhere. Unfortunately my life right now kind of dictates that. Oh well, at least I'm back to cooking sometimes now.
After dinner Kristi and I went to get some dessert at Starbucks (for her) and Chik-fil-A (for me). Man do I love icedreams. We watched tv when we got back and then headed to bed.
Tomorrow should be a good day. I think I am meeting my friend Daniel for lunch, and then tomorrow night I think Kristi and I are going to find something fun to do. I hope tomorrow is fun, because Saturday I will be doing my second least favorite yard chore...mulching.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
I think I might like to interview for jobs again just so I can travel for free...
I woke up this morning not really excited that it was Wednesday. I laid in bed as long as I possibly could and then took a quick shower before heading to my parents' house to drop Lucy off. My mom and I got to talk for a few minutes and then I went to Psychology. Have I mentioned that isn't my favorite class?
I went to lab but skipped lecture for Micro. My friend Nate told me that he was leaving after lab to go to Texas. His friend was picking up some huge trailer, so he was helping him by driving some. They were going to take 3 hour shifts and make a straight trip there and back. That sounded completely crazy to me. I cannot drive in the wee hours of the morning. I can make it comfortably to about 2 o'clock, and then after that there is just no way I'm gonna stay awake. I remember my senior year of college a church flew me to Chicago to interview for a job. I had to wake up before 5 Saturday to make it to Charlotte to leave. Then I woke up before 7 on Sunday also. THEN I didn't get back to Charlotte until after 12:30 and I had to drive all the way back to Clemson. Once I hit Greenville around 2 I was about to pass out. It was cold outside, so I rolled down the windows, screamed every 10 seconds, and blared the music. I still wasn't sure I was going to make it...but hey, I had a class at 9 or something the next morning that I had already used all my absences in.
So anyways, I wanted to skip Micro lecture just to give myself a little quiet free time at home. It was really nice. I made a sanwich and watched a little Sportscenter before heading to work. Kristi also left me a little left over fried rice from MiMi's. I am thinking about treating myself to some house fried rice from a random chinese restaurant in Simpsonville tomorrow for lunch. I definitely deserve it.
Work was pretty good today. I spent the beginning part of the day cleaning up the stage and closet from last night. It was a mess. After that I played around with the EQ for James Brush's guitar. He just got a new pickup to replace his Taylor Expression System. I think that's a good move. The expression system is alright, but it's got this real distinct sound that I am not sold on. It is also really problematic, and his had a huge grounding problem. I haven't like the system ever since they moved to it, and I really think they should go back to the Fishman stuff. Although...Fishman has been making theirs a little too fancy too these days. I don't want anything special on my pickup. I just want a mic and a piezo, and I want it to accurately represent my great sounding guitar. I thought James's new one sounded great, but I think he is a little dissatisfied with it.
Around 5:30 Joe and I went to Sonic to eat some dinner. I really like the fries at Sonic, but I am not really into their sandwiches. I need to find one that I like. Joe was pretty tired today and seemed a little down. He's got a tough job and has had a long week, so I felt bad for him. Too bad he doesn't have an assistant to help him...wait...
I'm not running sound this week, and it felt nice to have a break. I just ran slides during rehearsal and then headed out around 9. I talked to my parents for a while when I picked up Lucy and then headed home and straight to bed. I am really tired, and really excited that I get to sleep in some tomorrow. I hope Lucy lets me!
On a closing note, Joe asked me why I didn't add a link to the guitar head I am selling. I had not really thought of it, but just in case you are interesed here it is: Marshall AVT150H. No one's bidding on it so it might be cheap! That snare I wanted sold already anyways, but don't worry, I'll find a good one eventually...
I went to lab but skipped lecture for Micro. My friend Nate told me that he was leaving after lab to go to Texas. His friend was picking up some huge trailer, so he was helping him by driving some. They were going to take 3 hour shifts and make a straight trip there and back. That sounded completely crazy to me. I cannot drive in the wee hours of the morning. I can make it comfortably to about 2 o'clock, and then after that there is just no way I'm gonna stay awake. I remember my senior year of college a church flew me to Chicago to interview for a job. I had to wake up before 5 Saturday to make it to Charlotte to leave. Then I woke up before 7 on Sunday also. THEN I didn't get back to Charlotte until after 12:30 and I had to drive all the way back to Clemson. Once I hit Greenville around 2 I was about to pass out. It was cold outside, so I rolled down the windows, screamed every 10 seconds, and blared the music. I still wasn't sure I was going to make it...but hey, I had a class at 9 or something the next morning that I had already used all my absences in.
So anyways, I wanted to skip Micro lecture just to give myself a little quiet free time at home. It was really nice. I made a sanwich and watched a little Sportscenter before heading to work. Kristi also left me a little left over fried rice from MiMi's. I am thinking about treating myself to some house fried rice from a random chinese restaurant in Simpsonville tomorrow for lunch. I definitely deserve it.
Work was pretty good today. I spent the beginning part of the day cleaning up the stage and closet from last night. It was a mess. After that I played around with the EQ for James Brush's guitar. He just got a new pickup to replace his Taylor Expression System. I think that's a good move. The expression system is alright, but it's got this real distinct sound that I am not sold on. It is also really problematic, and his had a huge grounding problem. I haven't like the system ever since they moved to it, and I really think they should go back to the Fishman stuff. Although...Fishman has been making theirs a little too fancy too these days. I don't want anything special on my pickup. I just want a mic and a piezo, and I want it to accurately represent my great sounding guitar. I thought James's new one sounded great, but I think he is a little dissatisfied with it.
Around 5:30 Joe and I went to Sonic to eat some dinner. I really like the fries at Sonic, but I am not really into their sandwiches. I need to find one that I like. Joe was pretty tired today and seemed a little down. He's got a tough job and has had a long week, so I felt bad for him. Too bad he doesn't have an assistant to help him...wait...
I'm not running sound this week, and it felt nice to have a break. I just ran slides during rehearsal and then headed out around 9. I talked to my parents for a while when I picked up Lucy and then headed home and straight to bed. I am really tired, and really excited that I get to sleep in some tomorrow. I hope Lucy lets me!
On a closing note, Joe asked me why I didn't add a link to the guitar head I am selling. I had not really thought of it, but just in case you are interesed here it is: Marshall AVT150H. No one's bidding on it so it might be cheap! That snare I wanted sold already anyways, but don't worry, I'll find a good one eventually...
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
I think I am just glad the election is finally over...
What a day. I woke up this morning and I decided to drive to Columbia to vote. Kristi and I through a variety of circumstances did not get our address changed in time, and so if I wanted to vote I had to drive to Columbia. I have spent many hours becoming informed about today's election and felt like I really wanted to take advantage of my right to have a say, or voice my opinion. I timed it so that I would get there a little after 10. I read that this would be the least busy time, so I figured I would wait in line less than an hour and still be able to run back by the house and get to work by 1. Man was I wrong. I ended up waiting in line for almost 2 hours, which meant I had to drive straight to work from Columbia. The even more ridiculous thing is that I ended up voting for Bob Barr, so my vote didn't really even matter. If you want to know why I did that I would be happy to tell you in person...the short story is I felt like I could vote for him with a clear conscience, unlike the main two candidates. That said, unlike most people I know, I think it will be interesting to see how things go with Obama (I've been calling a landslide forever, while my friends remained in denial), and I think he has the potential to make some good decisions for the country. One thing's for sure, things are going to get done, good or bad, because the Democrats are going to have alot of control.
So I got to work a little after 1 and waited for Joe to get back from lunch. Tonight the youth had an event in the sanctuary (is that what we call it?), and so I ran sound for rehearsal and the event, which took up my whole time at work. The event was a cool idea. It was a "red carpet" event, so they parked a Limo outside and had all the kids come out of the Limo, get interviewed, and then walk in. Almost all of the kids dressed up very fancy. After that they had a movie theme inside. People passed out soft drinks, popcorn, and candy and they played 3 trailers for upcoming events (previews), and then a 1 hour feature which was a recap of their Woodlands Camp retreat entitled "Epic." I love creativity in general, especially when encouraged by the church, and so I really enjoyed the evening.
Everything made for a really long day. I was away from the house for about 13 hours straight, which stinks because tomorrow I will be away from the house for over 12 hours again. I may skip Micro lecture just to buy some free time. By the way, I got a 99 on my statistics test...amazing. I don't know how I pulled that out, but I'm glad I did.
On another note, I put my Marshall AVT150H head on Ebay yesterday. It made me sad to do so, but I am starting to implement my new musical equipment policy. I have decided that I am going to start collecting only high quality, really useful equipment that I won't ever get rid of. The Marshall head did not meet the criteria, and so I am selling it. It is actually the first piece of serious musical equipment I have sold. I can't ever bring myself to sell guitars, and I think the most expensive piece I actually have sold was a Digitech effects processor. I am not too sad, because I plan on getting the Fender Tweed Blues Jr. with my gift cards I get for Christmas, plus the ones I've been saving all year. Also if my head sells for enough money, I will buy this snare. My drums are my weakest musical instruments, and so I am slowly going to replace them in pieces. I plan on getting a snare first, then cymbals and hardware one by one, and then the shell pack. I assume this will take many years, because pro quality drum equipment is super expensive. I have liked the Mapex Saturns I have heard, and that snare is over 350$ from Musician's Friend, so I would really like to buy it if my head sells for enough. I am also a sucker for sparkly drums...my favorite finish is white cream pearloid.
I am pretty tired but I plan on watching election results for a good bit longer. I figure as long as I make it to Thursday I will be fine, since I can sleep in. I think it's good to remember that God ordained whoever becomes president, and as Joe said, I'm going to have to find new friends because a bunch of mine are apparently moving to Canada.
So I got to work a little after 1 and waited for Joe to get back from lunch. Tonight the youth had an event in the sanctuary (is that what we call it?), and so I ran sound for rehearsal and the event, which took up my whole time at work. The event was a cool idea. It was a "red carpet" event, so they parked a Limo outside and had all the kids come out of the Limo, get interviewed, and then walk in. Almost all of the kids dressed up very fancy. After that they had a movie theme inside. People passed out soft drinks, popcorn, and candy and they played 3 trailers for upcoming events (previews), and then a 1 hour feature which was a recap of their Woodlands Camp retreat entitled "Epic." I love creativity in general, especially when encouraged by the church, and so I really enjoyed the evening.
Everything made for a really long day. I was away from the house for about 13 hours straight, which stinks because tomorrow I will be away from the house for over 12 hours again. I may skip Micro lecture just to buy some free time. By the way, I got a 99 on my statistics test...amazing. I don't know how I pulled that out, but I'm glad I did.
On another note, I put my Marshall AVT150H head on Ebay yesterday. It made me sad to do so, but I am starting to implement my new musical equipment policy. I have decided that I am going to start collecting only high quality, really useful equipment that I won't ever get rid of. The Marshall head did not meet the criteria, and so I am selling it. It is actually the first piece of serious musical equipment I have sold. I can't ever bring myself to sell guitars, and I think the most expensive piece I actually have sold was a Digitech effects processor. I am not too sad, because I plan on getting the Fender Tweed Blues Jr. with my gift cards I get for Christmas, plus the ones I've been saving all year. Also if my head sells for enough money, I will buy this snare. My drums are my weakest musical instruments, and so I am slowly going to replace them in pieces. I plan on getting a snare first, then cymbals and hardware one by one, and then the shell pack. I assume this will take many years, because pro quality drum equipment is super expensive. I have liked the Mapex Saturns I have heard, and that snare is over 350$ from Musician's Friend, so I would really like to buy it if my head sells for enough. I am also a sucker for sparkly drums...my favorite finish is white cream pearloid.
I am pretty tired but I plan on watching election results for a good bit longer. I figure as long as I make it to Thursday I will be fine, since I can sleep in. I think it's good to remember that God ordained whoever becomes president, and as Joe said, I'm going to have to find new friends because a bunch of mine are apparently moving to Canada.
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