So, it's been feast or famine on the work front... Last week I worked almost 60 hours, but this week because of the rain nobody's laying sod apparently, and I've only clocked about 16 hours in 4 days, including having yesterday off altogether. Next week is likely to be insane as everyone tries to catch up. That's just how it goes, so I'm told.
Due to the downtime, I've had a fair bit of extra time sitting around at home this week but thanks to my surrogate mother kicking my ass to be productive, I've done a bunch of apartment hunting and found 4 places to go take tours of, 3 of which are today and all of which are within walking distance of the Kingdoms jam hall. That's right, I'm moving to Kitchener in September. There's a number of reasons... Partially it will allow for better job opportunities, as KW is just way bigger than Guelph and should have more driving jobs available. Partially I'm moving close to the jam hall so I can just jaunt over there for more personal practice time, which I haven't had much of for years, and it's about time I got back into that. Having a relatively regular work schedule and the ability to practice regularly means I can finally make some headway on working toward my eventual career goals. There's also a gym just around the corner I'll be signing up for... and as an added bonus I'll be closer to somefriends I've never been able to see often enough in the last couple years.
The only other news of late to mention is I wrecked my thumb somewhat at work on Tuesday, by getting it caught between the truck and the tarp-lifting boom(#12) on the back. It's bruised and swollen and I can barely move it, so I've had to take a day or two off from the gym, but its fortunately not broken, so everything should be back to normal in a week or so, or at least it better be.
Ok, you'll have to hop out here. I'm off to work out the specifics of a 40/30/30 split meal plan at 3000 calories and you definitely don't want to be around for that.
Hey, you made it. Glad you're here, but don't worry about how you got here right now. Today, there's something that needs doing. We're going to be lifting and carrying something together. What is it? It doesn't always have a name, different people call it different things. You can call it whatever you want, but in the end it's always pretty much the same old thing... which right now needs lifting. Sorry for rambling, you know how I get. It's right over here, come on, I'll show you.
Alright, there's a few things to keep in mind here. This item we're about to carry together is pretty heavy. You definitely can't carry it all yourself, neither can I. But it's also as fragile as an egg, a baby, or a wannabe rock-star's ego. We have to carry it together and keep it balanced. If either of us tries to take too much or too little of the weight, it could tip and fall, and you don't want to know what would happen then. Especially with so many people watching us, or waiting to.
Here's the problem, though. I'm really rather used to carrying things myself, you know? My back hurts from trying sometimes but, well, I've tried carrying these before with others and after getting them dropped on my feet a few times, I can't go into something without either getting ready to get right underneath and try to hold it all up myself, or without having an exit strategy subconsciously forming in the back of my head. Six months at a stretch is all I've apparently been able to manage in the last while, but you can always argue whose fault it was after the fact. What? Oh, yeah, we'll be carrying this for awhile, it's not a one afternoon "come help me move my apartment, I'll give you a two-four" type of setup here. Sorry, didn't think I needed to warn you.
Alright, we've got it going. It doesn't get any lighter, but we'll get stronger so it will get easier, in a sense, along the way. All I can say is we'll have to see how it goes. I know I'm not the strongest guy, but I'm holding up my side as best I can. I have been going to the gym lately, remember?
I've been meaning to get another post written here but my schedule has prevented it. I've worked 50 hours (and I still have a shift tomorrow) plus two days of band practice and two days at the gym. I guess my sched isn't that crazy but it's quite the adjustment after a number of months of inconsistent scheduling and lotsoffreetime.
So far this week I've gotten sunstroke, several sunburns (and since acquired some sunscreen), eaten a fair bit of dirt, manhandled I don't know how many rolls of sod (the skids don't always stay together all that well), and spent lots of quality time in places like Stratford, Kenilworth and Milton. I've learned the secret Mennonite on-the-road salute, gained the ability to distinguish kentucky bluegrass from fescue grass by taste and-... I'm completely kidding. Fescue and KB taste the same.
Band stuff is coming along, slowly but surely. We have 4 songs written, 3 of which are finalized instrumentally, 2 of which have vocals. We're starting to get all the other assorted elements of the overall band 'package' (myspace, photos, merch, recording time) together as well. There's not much to say about it other than that, at this point... Patience is a virtue I'm learning, despite my best efforts otherwise.
In other news, I've been thinking a lot about friendship and tact and knowing what to say/what not to say, and how you would talk to/handle certain friends differently. Everyone has their own ideal way to be dealt with, and this is something I have to make a conscious effort towards as well... Without self-censoring and running what I'm about to say through the 'would I be better keeping my mouth shut' filter, I would be a rather blunt, uncompromising, perhaps rude person, perhaps because that's how I deal with myself. It would just be so much easier to be able to handle people if you didn't have to worry about hurting their feelings or having something taken the wrong way... But if you've ever seen the movie Equilibrium you know rationality/logic at the expense of emotion can sort of negate the entire point of being human, or something like that. My brain is still fried from a week in the sun (I'll get used to it eventually) so I'm probably not making much sense.
Oh, I finally got a paycheck. Only for half a week's work, but the long slow climb back out of financial purgatory begins now. With a shopping spree!!! ... ... Just kidding. Mostly.
Well my first 'week' so to speak on the job (actually only 3 days) felt like a good all-round run through of how the job will be. First day was super hot and sunny and extremely dusty, as I was out in the fields for a bit; day two started off with some torrential downpourage (downporridge?) for which I was issued an official company rainsuit. Yep, they must really like me... After a day job shadowing an older driver guy who was moving on (and is a walking billboard for why you shouldn't smoke two packs a day for 25 years) they tossed me out in the deep end on my own and it went pretty well. Not too much else to say about the job other than it's decently fun and I get to drive all over by myself with the radio blaring. Oh, and my truck just happens to have the most horsepower and overall badass-ity of all the company's flatbeds. Here's hoping no one clues into that and yanks it out from under me. Thanks for the hand-me-down, Ron! I have a tendency to ramble on forever when given the chance, and as my last blog gave the Iliad a run for its money, I'll leave it at that for today. Besides, I have grocery shopping, kitchen cleaning, floor vacuuming, furniture dusting and band practice to get to. Oh, the life of a semi-domesticated semi-retired musician...
P.S. I still hate country. As if there was any doubt...
44 weeks. That's how long it's taken me to get a full-time job since moving into the Lifestory house last September. Yep, the better part of an entire year in search of a job I could stick with that would pay enough to cover all my costs, and that would also stick with me and not lay me off randomly (which has happened at least 3 times this year).
After getting tired of that whole game I went to an 'employment counselor' downtown named Nicola. She's actually been a real help and been surprisingly supportive given that her help costs me nothing directly. I guess government programs are good for something now and again... Through her office I was directed to a company called Transport Training Centres and took a 3 week course to get my DZlicense. These people told me that there were lots of jobs for DZ drivers and that 98% of their grads got related jobs within 2 weeks of passing the course. Starting wages? Oh, about $18 an hour. Great, I said. Sign me up.
I won't get into too much detail on the course itself other than to say never, ever go to Transport Training Centres for any course, period. Our prof himself said the company doesn't really care about the students or the curriculum: the second they get your money they're on to the next dupe, lather rinse repeat. The books were outdated and had innaccurate information, the photocopies were nearly unreadable sometimes, the in-truck teacher was of very little actual assistance in learning to drive... just a frustrating experience all around.
This frustration was somewhat multiplied when I got back out into the jobhunt and found that there indeed are lots of driving jobs available, however... -Most want AZ drivers, not DZ. -Almost all require previous experience. This is understandable, but where did they expect the experienced driver that they wanted to hire got his first job when he _wasn't_ experienced? -The only jobs that are anywhere near $18+/hr always require previous experience. The rate for new drivers winds up being equal to a top-rate temp job, exactly what I was doing before I gave myself another $3k of debt load to take their half-ass course.
I don't want to sound like an incessant complainer, the job hunt is always difficult, and as I passed my test on June 25th, getting the new job today puts me right on the 2-week mark, so I didn't have to wait all that long. Oh, TTC can use me in their positive statistics now, goodie. I suppose just being tighter on money now (and closer to being flat broke) than I've ever been makes me a little irritable.
As for the job itself, the only other irony is that it's not actually a permanent position. It's seasonal, so come November or so I'll be either job-hunting again or following in my brother's footsteps and going on unemployment for the winter. But, after all the stress of finding it, the job itself seems decently enjoyable and the guy that will be my boss is a pretty decent easy-going dude, as far as I can tell.
In other news, as you may have heard, I'm in a new band, semi-officially called Kingdoms. The lineup is pretty much the epitome of 519 band-member intermingling (for lack of a better term). My brother Paul is on bass (we were both in Skylight Drama once upon a time), Jordan Valeriote of Race Well Run fame is on rhythm guitar, lead guitar is covered by Chuck Brooker who was previously in Take Victory with other former RWR guys, and Hutton (who SatConned me into playing with him last year) is on vocals. We've been writing and practicing as a full group for just over a month now and have 3 songs of our first set of 6 done. We have a lot of plans in store but I won't reveal them all just yet. Suffice to say we plan to appear on the scene with a bang, and my usual impatient self can hardly wait.
One last aside before I head off to the gym: In the unlikely event that any young aspiring drummers wind up reading this blog, I'll say this. DO NOT BUY DRUMS FROM A CUSTOM COMPANY. When you look at what you get vs. the cost, it's a waste of your money. I have yet to hear a custom kit from any band within 200 miles that sounds like it's worth the money they inevitably spent on it. It's a vanity thing, that's what you're paying for. Forget the multi colored stripes, powder-coated hardware, offset tube lugs and novelty-shaped snare vents. Buy your drums from a company that's been around for more than a few years and isn't run by a couple of kids in their garage. And in the name of Travis Barker, Joey Jordison or whatever drum god you worship, LEARN HOW TO TUNE! It's not that hard.
Ok, one more thing. (I've had a lot of blogginess stored up that I'm venting all at once here...) I've posted a link to this video before on Facebook. But since Facebook doesn't allow embedded videos (well, it might but I have a certain disdain for FB applications) I'll stick it here instead. Mr. Carlin's rant here is more applicable to my occasional American friend, granted... but who cares. Oh, disclaimer for any readers who might be A: sensitive to salty language or B: my parents... Mr. Carlin is a tad vulgar. Enjoy. CT.
Mornin'... I haven't written a journal since I axed my Myspace account last year (good riddance) and randomly decided this week it's time for a new one. I briefly considered doing a video blog but I still spend too much time online as it is,.. this seemed a manageable addition without taking a ginormous amount of time to do. However, having now spent an hour setting this thing up, I'm going to wait before making a proper first post- I should get back to job hunting, which is what I'm supposed to be doing today! Don't worry, this will be plenty entertaining (or not) in no time.
