Ramblings of a rural(ish) geek

- skipped FCB rehearsal on Monday, because when I looked at the traffic to NFHS from here it was saying "best route 75-80 minutes". Egads, no. Add in the fact that I'd be driving J's truck (which I hadn't driven in over a year), and I bailed. Sent BM the row numbers -- it was rather disturbing when I could just rattle them off without much thought.

- no LCCB this week, as this is traditionally their week off. sometimes a parade appearance is organized, but not this year.

- no basement work on Tuesday (other than putting shelf boxes into the basement), as it was the day to do payroll. Getting the data entered in takes a couple of hours, and then there's some flinging of files to ensure that neither I nor the payroll company made an error entering data. It's a very rare month when everything is right on the first pass.

- today I got two shelves assembled, another moved into its new home, and a closet emptied. One shelf is loaded up, and I showed the office manager where all of the file cabinets she needs access to are now. And BC determined that "someone" (not me or her!), has been moving things out of the fireproof file cabinets. We didn't have time to dig into the cabinets to find out what's in them now, but that's a pretty important thing for next week.

Sliding Tiles - the major work is done. HandymanDan and his helper showed up today, and we got all the file cabinets in their proper places. It did not take as long as I expected it to -- once HD figured out how to move the fireproof files, it didn't take long at all. I even got all the stuff we took out of cabinets (so we could move them) back in to the cabinets (or into recycling, depending). And I found enough drawer rails so that files aren't falling all over the place. Now it's up to Z to sort his cabinet, and I have to figure out where the stuff that was in the bottom drawers of the Elections cabinet really goes. I then assembled the remainder of the shelf units that I had, and figured out what sizes to get for the rest of the stuff (now that I see what space I have, I need to modify my plan slightly). This weekend, I go find the rest of the shelves. Not tomorrow, as I expect I'll be stiff and creaky tomorrow after all that furniture moving.

Bands vs Weather - is now 3-2. The sponsor cancelled Wednesday evening's gig late. At 4pm, when they decided to go for it, the weather was fine at Belle Isle, even though it was raining hard at my house. Then it started raining at BM's house. Our contact at the sponsor left for Belle Isle about 4:30, and after about 10 minutes of driving in the rain, decided that there was no way we could do an outdoor gig that evening. Even if it stopped raining (which it did), there was a good chance that the performers would outnumber the audience, and that's never any fun; the grounds would still be wet; and while the temperature would be cooler, the relative humidity would be close to 100%, and it's No Fun trying to play a concert in that weather. I was 30 minutes into the 75 minute drive when BM called, so we went to the next roundabout and came home.

I went in to the office on Friday, and with a fresh brain, was able to find a way to get the corner desk into the room where it was to go. The base of the section does not go all the way to the floor on all sides, so I was able to wrap it around the doorframe. Then I reassembled the desk, put the drawer keys back in the top drawer, and went on to vacuum where the desk had been. Then I emptied a file cabinet and cleared a space for a different filing cabinet and moved the maps that were in the wrong place and sorted out paint and measured all the boxes + things that I'd have to find storage for. Then left that sheet at the office. sigh.

Not that it makes that much difference at this point, as I probably won't be getting the shelves until next weekend. I don't want to have to take them out of the car other than at the office, and I have to haul Lily somewhere M-T-W next week. At least, that's the current schedule. I expect we'll still have rehearsal on Monday as it's indoors; but the T-W concerts are both outside in the Heat Advisory/Extreme Heat Alert areas (depending on the concert). The weather people tell us that it won't get below 70F until the wee hours of Thursday AM. Maybe. Friday night for sure!

The AC came on at 8:45 this morning. I have it set for 76. (Anything higher, and the cats get really lethargic and unhappy. No need to stress old cats more than necessary.)

Yesterday's Sousapalooza was fun. there were about 25 of us, more old (most of them older than me!) flute players than anything else. We played 8 different Sousa marches, all of which I had played before. Many of them (besides Stars and Stripes Forever) have been in a summer repertoire for one band or another. It was indoors, so we didn't have to worry about the heat. I really think that an event like this needs to be outside, but yesterday I was glad that it wasn't. It wasn't really a concert intended for an audience, just a bunch of people playing music together.

- at home, the cats are being cats. Which is to say that Jiji is being very annoyed with me. I have, in no particular order: sent J away, failed at weather control (it's hot and humid now, and will rain, possibly hard, later), am *not* J, demonstrated my inability to skritch him "just right", gone away for "all day" Tuesday thus 'trapping' him inside (he can't fool me - he slept most of the time I was at work). Annabelle doesn't like the hot weather, either, as I don't let her curl up in my lap as much when it's 78F.

- in the backyard: I heard froggies on Monday after rehearsal, there was a small fuzzy sandhill crane in the yard when I got home from work on Tuesday (it looked at me very curiously before deciding I was no danger, and went back to lawn-poking), I saw fireflies yesterday evening after a concert in Fowlerville.

- on the road: (all rural two lane roads, because that's where I normally drive.) I came around a blind corner on my way to the concert yesterday, and there was a deer standing in the middle of the road. This was a few miles after the one who nearly ran into my car -- waited on the shoulder until I was nearly past, *then* started across the road. I accelerated just enough that it missed the rear bumper. Three miles from the venue, there was a quartet of ducks moseying across the road and I had to stop for them. Fortunately for all involved, the numbskull going 10 mph over the speed limit was far enough behind me that he didn't get to us until the ducks were off the road.

It was very hot in Fowlerville last night. We were, for the most part, under a pavilion so not in the sun, but I still had sweat running down my face. Many people deployed small personal fans. I have a little one, but it was in the other music bag. I should put it in Lily's case, and then I'll have it with me! (which will be good on Saturday, when I head up to Lansing for Sousapalooza. They say it will be 93 there. I hope we're on the shady side of the shop.)

Yesterday at work, I discovered that TE has handed responsibility for the entirety of the basement mess off to me. I don't wanna be in charge! So tomorrow I call HandymanDan and see when we can schedule him and a helper for a day. And BC and I went through and moved some expenses so that they were being pulled out of the correct account (fiscal year ends with June). I had been mis-attributing an expense because no-one told me that it actually belonged somewhere else. And then there was the one that I just screwed up. (Payroll is complicated, even if the payroll company does all the taxes, etc.)

but still some same ol' things.

LCCB is still far more freeform than I like. Every summer, I wonder why I play the summer schedule. DM is concerned about our stage comportment, but doesn't do a damn thing about the sprawling layouts with random people way far away from other people who mostly play the same part. But people seem to enjoy the concerts, so I guess that's why I keep playing....

Sup is doing the "why is this not done yet" queries, and my response is "because TW and HandymanDan haven't gotten back to me (or you) to schedule. *You* poke them...." BC is finally up to a trek into the basement to see the status down there, and OMG there's a lot of work to be done. No more than there was (less, actually, as I've taken the recycling in). Somebody else needs to take the rubbish. Other somebodies need to schedule TE and HD for a day of moving big stuff. OTOH, the AC is now working -- something in the compressor needed to be replaced, so it was and now it works. Just as well, as we are now in an "if you don't need to breathe outside, don't" portion of the summer. (Canadian prairies are on fire, and we get the smoke. yay?)

Early last week, I moved the main plants from the deckside garden to their new home. Then it got hot for a couple of days, and then it rained for about 18 hours, so they're well watered in. The East garden is very appreciative of the weather - everything is blooming! Peonies, Lupine, three shades of pink daisies, three very different irises (white, dark purple, yellow & bronze), and bright yellow paintbrush. And some scattered magenta & white & purple carnations.... It's been a few years since everything in that garden has flowered this profusely. There are some spring bulbs in there that I need to move, because they don't bloom before the shasta daisies around them get tall, so they're hard to see. If I move them to the new garden, we'll be able to see them!

The concert last Sunday went quite well. I had a bit of a moment when I walked in and realized the *shape* and size of the space I had to work with. (I did not *quite* swear in church.) It did not fit the shape of the band very well at all! [I don't think the actual shape of the space changed from the last time we played this venue, but the renovations had fixed some of the issues with the sound. (my mother said to J "these acoustics are dreadful" the last time we played there.)] BM was still out ill, so I had a list of numbers to work from for setup. I wound up doing the final setup (once we got the chairs into rows) pretty much solo, because I was making it up as I went along, and there just wasn't room for more than one person moving chairs. It was a very tight fit. It didn't feel as tight as some spaces, because the edges were defined by low things (altar steps, kneeler rail) so we didn't feel like we were up against the walls. The actual performance went well, too! I was very tired after that, though.

Still no external monitor at work - local IT thinks it's probably the cable, but he didn't look at it until Wednesday, so it'll be next week before I know. The IT company that does the system IT screwed up Treasurer's computer setup, and are being cagey about fixing it (too busy figuring out who did it, rather than how to fix it. To be fair, they may need to know who did it to know exactly what they did...). T is very irked by this, and is making noises about finding another IT provider. I think that's a bad idea, as this is the first time there's been any real issue with the IT provider....

I have not gotten into the garden at all this week. It's been chilly (highs in the 50s!) all week, and raining a lot. Today is supposed to be not rainy, so maybe I can get out there this afternoon and (carefully!) pull some of the very very happy weeds.

now that the grand office shuffle of 2025 is over, local IT decided that he really needed to _do_ the computer upgrade/transition that was budgeted for the 2024-2025 fiscal year.

As far as I can tell, there were no major issues. Some of my work actually got easier(!) as the upgrade fixed the voter database printing issues (I can now print natively from the website, rather than going through a multistep process). Logging in to the voter database *and* the accounting software both required only one extra confirmation each. As I got upgraded to a physically smaller laptop, I also got an external monitor, which required a certain amount of desktop rejiggering, but that, too, is done.

I hauled a trunkload of cardboard boxes off to the recycling center on my way home from work, so that's another stack of shtuff out of the basement.

I have been slowly working my way through the gardens, but we've been getting (much needed!) rain, so there've been days when I've been home but the ground's been too soft. I was able to get into the E garden yesterday afternoon and do some weeding, though. Tomorrow, I think I'll move a few things from the deckside garden which is going away so that J can replace the deck skirting. We will need to replace the cat's "stack of sun warmed bricks" at some point, though....

it was a concert. We got a really congratulatory note from the director today, and I wonder if he was at the same concert I was. I mean, I understand that as a performer in the band, I tend to hear a lot of infelicities, and don't really hear the entire effect, but.... OTOH, some of my reaction may be colored by the fact that I "missed" three rehearsals for this concert, and there was a lot of finger-flying in the TSax part, and I was really off my game (I spent two rehearsals on BSax, then missed one because I had a (paid) FCB gig).

Got to the office today, and discovered that the plumbing issue we discovered Thursday afternoon is still not solved - the building was dark and there was a sign on the door saying "closed". Undoubtedly, Sup sent an email and mine went to my work email which I don't check when I'm not at work, mostly because when IT was setting my system up, he didn't set me up for offsite access. (This is a feature, not a bug, AFAIAC.) It was not a completely wasted trip though, as I was able to put the flag back up -- it'd been at halfmast for Pope Francis.

Last night's FCB rehearsal was very tiring, so it's probably just as well that I don't have rehearsal tonight. But I have no excuse for not weeding. (well, other than J is mowing, and I want to be on the other side of the house from the mower).

BC is back at work, so last week I actually wrote down the plan for the sliding-tile game that is the basement rearrangement. (Sup wanted it all written out, not just a map. She really wants to get the shed sorted out, but we can't do that until we get the election infrastructure into the basement. And I only want to move it once!)

Tuesday's clinician visit to LCCB went really well. He worked us a lot harder than DM usually does, and really seemed to concentrate on the middle voices (baritone, tsax, low clarinets), so I had two days of hard musical work in a row. I was very tired on Wednesday.

I've been working in the garden when I can, but it's been a typical April -- cold and rainy one day, nice and sunny the next, usually with the nice days on days I have other things to do. I spent over an hour picking up branches yesterday morning, and then last night we got more wind, so there are *more* branches to be picked up (well, and the ones I didn't get to yesterday). I should do those today, but I need to run to the grocer (I had to stay home yesterday for Reasons).

BC is back in hospital. I do not *know* why, but I suspect that her system is not tolerating the strong oral antibiotics well, and so they need to be administered intravenously. She finished the first round of strong antibiotics, but apparently the pneumonia did not clear up as the docs wanted it to, so.....

So yesterday I did payroll. whee? (and Sup and Treas were off at a state meeting, so it was me and the office manager.) Tomorrow, S & T should be back, so I can consult with T about getting the GL entry for April's payroll done, and see if BC did the one for March. If she didn't, I need to do that one before I do April. I may have to do checks this month as well -- last month, BC came back for a week and was able to do them while dodging moving crews. (I don't like doing anything that requires me to sign in as BC, because if my account doesn't have permissions, then I shouldn't be doing them, right?)

Last night, a smaller FCB (just around 50 people) did a 30 minute gig before the State of the Cities address in Farmington/Farmington Hills. It required nearly as much work as a full 90 minute concert. Perhaps a bit more, as I had to figure out a smaller layout that would fit in a smaller space. I dug out the seat "dots" (that we used in 2021 when the layout was different nearly every week) so that BM and I didn't have to point everyone to their seat.

And today it rains. nearly an inch since 8 am (it's currently 1230!), and they say we'll get more. And it's cold. (35F and rain is hard to dress for -- winter jackets aren't waterproof enough, rain coats aren't warm enough and mine aren't big enough to put warm layers under. Maybe I should remedy that....)