Ramblings of a rural(ish) geek

- I went up to the shop in Okemos to reclaim the tenor sax. The tech reset a couple of pads and realigned a couple of keys, and replaced a roller that he didn't do last year because it didn't need doing then. There was another tenor in a Gard rollybag there, which is always a bit surprising. A rollybag is a bit overkill for a single tenor sax, but I really can't do a shoulder-strap gig bag for him when I'm dealing with the bari and all her gear; and when I needed to replace his case, I was usually in a situation where I had both saxophones. Or SR was hauling him to school with her schoolbags, and she's small enough that a shoulder-strap bag would be hard for her to handle....

- I will need to get a new rollybag for the bari when it comes in, because the new sax will not fit in the old case. I'll probably need to get a new instrument stand, too, as the one I have is getting a bit recalcitrant about folding up.

- It's been a dank and dreary start to the New Year, but SR tells me that it was 36C in Melbourne on New Year's Day, so I guess that it could be worse. It could also be colder, and rather than rain, we'd have over a foot of snow. In some ways, days of snow would be preferable to days of rain, but on days when I have to go anywhere? But it would be nice to see some sun.

- It is now Orthodox Christmas, and I have missed my self-imposed deadline for holiday cards/letters. I should really do those this weekend -- assuming the cat will let me. She's been quite demanding about 'lap time' lately, and will use her pointy bits if I don't do it "right".

and relax. The holiday performance season is done, mod Bell Choir. I barely count those as performances, as they're very low stress. Oh, right -- I've gotten drafted to cover Song Leader for the Sunday after Christmas, but again, that's very low stress (I know most of the audience members, I can sing most of the Christmas carols in the hymnals without looking at the music, many without even looking at the *words* until the 3d or 4th verse, and they're just so grateful to have someone willing to stand up in front and lead...). The hardest part of the Bell Choir performances will be arriving on time (which is to say early enough to not be rushed, but late enough that I don't get pressed into set-up or something else).

The FCB holiday concert was Sunday. Gosh, I've missed performing with the FCB. Livingston is fine for what they are, but the thing I like about Farmington is that it's *not* easy, and I can't "coast" like I sometimes do at Livingston.... mrs_sweetpeach's Jebra gave the band -- including the director! -- a case of the giggles. DC used to be a high school band director, and still works with middle & high school students, so it's a bit of a feather in Jebra's cap. (Jebra was introducing Toccata Marziale, and told us that Vaughn Williams was inspired by the "new trend" of Military bands in concert, and wrote a thing that was *not* a "good" march because it's in 3/4 -- which only works for a march if you've got 3 legs. At which point a good third of the band burst out laughing, and then DC started.)

I took the tenor sax in to the shop last Wednesday, and the tech looked at it closely and said "Most of these pads are original. I think the best route is a full cleaning/teardown/re-pad. Yamaha pads last a fairly long time, but eventually -- usually in rapid succession -- they harden/dry out and just don't seal anymore". They said it'd be done "by next year" (which is fair, because I won't need it until then *anyway*). The tech called yesterday "I had a half day open in the schedule, your sax is done". well, then. So I went and got it today. It does sound better, and now I have to unlearn a few little tweaks that I didn't realise I had learned. (I bought the sax cheap 15 years ago. I paid nearly as much to get it cleaned/re-padded as I did to *buy* it. Still, worth it.)