Ramblings of a rural(ish) geek

I said I wasn't ever gonna log in to anything work related from home, but here I am.

(for my sins) I am chairing the AVCB in the township where I work (as the boss says "she works for me, she can't say no"). {I am not thrilled by this, really I'm not. I wanna be a minion. I'm a good minion. I don't wanna be in charge.}

I've been texting with the people on the board (everyone's got a cell phone, and in at least one case it's the most reliable/quickest way to contact them), and someone asked "how many ballots have we sent out/gotten back?" Erm. I have no idea, I've just been _doing_ it! So I logged in to the clerk-facing voter database and got those reports. We've sent out over 1100 ballots, and as of 3pm today had received over 600 of them back. We will be getting at least another 300 ballots back between now and Election Day. A good, well-trained AVCB team of 2 can process about 50 ballots an hour on the average. We only have personnel (and *space*) for two teams. So we're doing it over two days.

I wound up in the second row at FCB rehearsal last night due to some weirdities in layout+attendance, which put me in front of the other saxes, which is *so* not where I'm used to sitting. (I mean, yeah, the bari sits in the second row at Livingston, but the rest of the saxes are there as well.) I tend to 'float' around the FCB layout anyway, because there's only one barisax, and I can slot in just about anywhere, but this was a bit much. DC says to me "don't think I haven't noticed you sneaking toward the front of the band. Pretty soon you'll be in the front row". "Heck no! That's why I don't play flute anymore." (which did get a few giggles from the flutists....) As one of the tuba players (a performance minor) pointed out after rehearsal, as a barisax player, I can sit just about anywhere in the band and be close to someone else playing the same part at *some* point in the repertoire, as the barisax plays with everyone from second clarinet to tuba, depending on what sound the composer/arranger wants.

The person doing layout says she'll find me a permanent spot 'soon'. :) I hope so, as I haven't sat in the same spot for two rehearsals in a row since we moved inside.

you'd think that's all I do. Wait, it really *is* the only thing I do outside of the house. so there.

Monday's FCB rehearsal was, again, a scramble. Last Friday, BM (business manager/lead cat herder) found out that the high school we usually rehearse at was holding a pep rally Monday evening. Well, there's not gonna be space for us there! A quick move to our summer rehearsal space (a church parking lot) ensued. Set up went fine, but their parking lot lights are not as bright as the high school's, so reading music by them was not really plausible. And the sun goes down at 7:30, with full dark by 8pm. We raced through a rehearsal, adding in a bunch of the things we did this summer because There's A Concert On Sunday! EEK! A 70 minute parking lot gig, to be done on five hours of rehearsal. I'm still unsure about layout. Call is 2:30 for a 3pm concert, but I plan on getting there by 1:30 to do setup, etc. (and it's an hour from my house. sigh.)

Last nights' Livingston rehearsal was much less scrambl-y. DM apologized for 'embarrassing' me b asking the first clarinet player to help read the solo in In the Mood. Hell, that's not embarrassing - I freely admit that this is *way* out of my comfort zone, and I'll take all the help I can get. (OK, on one level it is kinda embarrassing, but really, soloing is not a thing I've *ever* done, and I'm getting used to a new horn at the same time. If I'd known about the solo, I might not have swapped to tenor.... I've been playing Bari for 15 years, and played nothing for over a decade before *that*.) They do themed sectional costumes for the Halloween concert, and the low saxes are doing our own thing. The theme is "Through the Decades", and since they didn't specify that the decade has to be one represented in the program, DS and I are doing the '90s. The 1890s. :) It was his idea - he leaned over to me and said "I have a Gay 90s suit", "*I* have a Gay 90s suit" "well, there we are." (I need to do a smidge more fitting on the jacket, and check the waistbands for fit. And find the petticoat.) Too many people are doing Blues Brothers (it's easy) or 1980s.

Last week's rains gave us about 6" of rain by the time they were done. Most of the rain soaked in - there were no puddles in the drain easement, and not really a lot of standing water in the ditches. We did lose a tree, though. I noticed last Friday that there was a branch down on a tree in the easement, and when I finally dragged J out to look at it yesterday we discovered that in addition to losing about a quarter of it upper structure, there was also a crack down the main trunk. It's a fairly small tree, as these things go (about 5inches in diameter), and should be relatively easy to remove. I'm trying to get him to call a tree service to take out the two cottonwoods in the front yard - there's too much shade up there now that other trees around them have grown up, and they're messy and nearing the end of their lives anyway. I don't want them coming down in a storm!

This evening is the Marching Band Exhibition at the high school. A few weeks ago, when I saw the first ads for it, I emailed the band director and asked if she could use some help. She said "absolutely", and sent me a link to the SignUpGenius for the event. As is often the case with these events, lotsa people want to go to the event, but far fewer people want to work them.

First Livingston band rehearsal was last night. Late last week, I got an email from the section leader "did you say you can play (and have a) tenor sax?" "erm, yes? but I'm way out of practice" "oh, good. We need a tenor sax player for the October concert". "erm, OK." So I trundled off to rehearsal with the tenor sax (wow, is it small and light compared to Esme), and look! In The Mood with tenor sax solo. And it's the first piece up in rehearsal, after warmup and tuning. EEEK! I'm still trying to get my fingers in the right place and you want me to play a 1930s swing band solo? Yeah, that's not gonna go too well..... (Now, I've _played_ In The Mood before, but not in this key, and certainly not with the solo. Well, they say that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?) I'm fairly confident that I'll be able to play the solo by October - I was much more comfortable on the tenor by the end of rehearsal. Considering I haven't played tenor sax in 15 years, I thought it didn't go too badly. (the reeds in the tsax case are dated 2008. hee. (Fancy 'reserve' cut reeds, very nice reeds, left over from when SR played it in HS/summer camp.))

I remembered to ask the section leader for a copy of the TSax part for the warmup music, but then the director had Banner on the "should have in your folder" list, and i didn't have a copy of it. Librarian said he'd bring a copy to the next rehearsal, but on the way home I realised that I *DO* have a copy of the Tsax part. It's in the Pep Band pocket folder from 30 years ago. heh. (I did email the librarian and say "nevermind, found a copy".)

If I'm gonna be playing different horns in different bands, I should probably get another tuner -- I keep them in the case so I know where they are.

I have left my mark on Interlochen, so to speak. I have a roll of hockey* tape in my case (doesn't everyone?), and there was a problem with the mute pedal on the chimes. LH was going to fix it with a bandaid, but hockey tape works better. The percussion coach approved, and said it was likely that the repair would stay until the tape failed and they needed to fix it properly. :)

They told us that the first rehearsal would start at 4pm, and that the setup should be done by 3:30 or so. I wandered in to the rehearsal space at 3:40, and the set up wasn't even started, and the crew who was in charge of it wasn't there yet. The only Interlochen people there were the librarians, both of whom are predominately orchestra people and thus unfamiliar with wind symphony set up. So I helped them put together a workable set up. Sigh -- even on vacation I can't get away from setup duties.

Friday night was an open night, with nothing scheduled. I didn't feel like going to a fancy restaurant for dinner with the usual gang. So I wandered in to Traverse City for the Friday night street festival. Whitefish tacos for the win (and dessert from the samples at cherry republic :) ).


* yes, I know the canonical techie tape is duct tape, but hockey tape (aka athletic tape, be sure to get the good stuff) removes much better, and IME sticks better to small diameter/highly polished things.