Quick Hitters

I.
This morning I was shaking my fist at the gods.

I was getting ready to make coffee, you see, and the base to my already-falling-apart French press fell off. The adhesive was completely worn away, and the plastic would no longer fit into the frame. When the gods took away my coffee, that was when I began to make my complaint against them.

I lost a job yesterday. It's complicated and unofficial, but I was informed via phone call that I'd been made redundant by the hiring of a new full time music professor. It wouldn't have been so bad, except that I'd confirmed my return for next year with the previous Dean (who took a bolt as soon as the semester was over) and resigned one of my other teaching jobs so that I could free up my schedule.

And now I'm out both jobs, and two jobs' worth of income. It's a good thing I collect spare jobs for fun and have several others on which I can temporarily float by...

All parties involved have been gracious so far, and it isn't an appropriate time (or space) to get into details, but it sure has been a lousy 24 hours.

II.
Sick kids are terribly sad, and Owen was a very sick boy this week. He had a high fever and didn't sleep well, and there was something awfully wrong with the back of his head and ear. He went to the doctor, was sent home, and slept poorly some more. Now he's starting to look like himself again, albeit a little more pale in the face and tired-out. He's a sweet little boy even when he's sick...he'd be whimpering and obviously upset, and then if he saw someone make eye contact with him he'd give his best effort at a goofy grin...he's a trooper.

III.
It's back in the saddle for orchestra work. If anyone wants to attend a concert, drop me a note about one of these dates and I'll see if I can get you comp tickets
3 BPO 9 pm at the Bisons game
4 BPO 8 pm in Ellicottville
5 BPO 7 pm at Niawanda park
7 BPO noon at M&T plaza
8 RPO 7pm at Ontario Beach
9 BPO 7 pm at Knox Farm
10 RPO 8:30 pm at Geneseo
11 BPO 7pm at Artpark
12 BPO 6 pm at Artpark
14 Syracuse BQ 7 pm in the 1000 islands
15 BPO 7 pm in Clarence
16 BPO 7pm at the harbor
19 Syracuse BQ 6pm at Thornden Park
24 RPO somewhere really far away
26 BPO 8pm at Old Fort Niagara

Needless to say, if anyone wants to bring over a bottle of wine and some takeout Chinese food to our house, J would probably appreciate some company...