Maybe a Band (or three)

 I am still desperate to play music again. I actually have a couple of prospects. One is in a cover band local to my town. They have been together for probably 20 years and are all my age or older. Their guitarist retired and moved away so they need a replacement. It might not come through as they are auditioning other players before me. When I have auditioned players for other bands, if we found someone we liked we usually just admitted him on the spot and dispensed with the other candidates. I am at least #2 in line so it may not happen.

The other is a Beatles tribute band that is forming. That is probably a little more sure as the guy forming it has been very encouraging. Who knows if we will play anywhere if we do form? I asked whether he'd want to do other stuff from the era but he was adamant that it was only Beatles. It's not "boots and suits" which is good because old guys in Beatle boots and wigs is kind of ridiculous.

Finally there is my Buzzcocks tribute band. I placed an ad on Craig's List for musicians who'd like to play their album Singles Going Steady. It's been about a month and I have had 4 responses. I may email the responders to see if they are still interested. I have no illusions that this band would actually play more than once or twice a year at some 70's/80's punk or new wave event. 

Here's a song about dreams by them.

Clearing out stuff

I have come to the realization that I need to start clearing out all of the stuff from my work history that I have been accumulating. What is the point of saving plaques or awards honoring me for my sales performances from thirty years ago and later? Right now they are just sitting on the top of my bookshelf gathering dust. I don't plan to create a wall of fame to hang them on. I was mildly displeased when I received another one in the mail for last year. They could have saved the money. I remember interviewing someone for a sales position who brought along a "brag bag" stuffed with his awards to show me. He wasn't hired. I suppose I should just dump them in the trash now in advance of moving or to save my heirs the chore of disposing them.  

Sir Alex Ferguson Documentary

 As a devoted Manchester United fan, I needed to watch the documentary. The narrative is centered around the need to preserve his memory after suffering a brain aneurysm in 2018. His fear  was that he would lose all of his recollections of the past. What especially resonated with me was his experience at the point that the aneurysm occurred. His perception of the world simply stopped with no awareness of anything until he regained consciousness a few days later: no dreaming, no semi-awake state, no nothing. So had he died, it would have all just ended then. For me it sounded like a feeling similar to being under general anesthesia when I had a colonoscopy recently. I just dropped off the side of a cliff and then woke up in recovery. There was nothing in between. I guess it is a peaceful way to go when it happens. The filmmakers did an amazing job of digging up archival footage for the documentary, even finding footage of young Alex marching during the Glasgow apprentice strike in 1960.   

Pleated Pants

 are not in style anymore, I just realized. So all of my suits from the early '00s are now destined for either the Goodwill bag or the far end of the closet so that I am not tempted to wear them anymore. But since my new position is essentially always working at home, I will never need to get  dressed up for work again. Then my time working is coming to an end soon. I discovered that I miscalculated my full retirement age by two months so I could go sooner than I expected. So no more accumulating frequent flyer miles or eating nice meals on the company's dime, which I expect I will miss. 

On the Downside of 65

Paraphrasing Steve Martin, the good news is that I am fully vaccinated. The bad news is that I had to be over 65 to be eligible. But it also meant I could get a haircut again. Even though I was a long-hair in high school and college, being without a haircut for 5 months was a real bother. It felt like I was walking through cobwebs when the wisps of hair would fall around my face. I suppose that if the hair was shoulder-length and could be tied back, it would be tolerable. But then all of the grey would be more noticeable. 🙁 So short hair wins. 👱

Post-vaccination it will be nice to get back playing music again. I just need to find a band. My late 70's new wave project has fallen to the wayside. It was difficult finding guitarist/ keyboards to stay more than a few practices. Actually, the music we played was really not that popular in the US so even if it did come together, the prospect of finding gigs would be minimal. Music of the 60s is an easier sell but the audience of baby boomers is dying off. Maybe by the next time I write, I will have something to report.

Back to where I was after election day

 but just glad I live in a state and an area where people are rational. When I think of relocating after retirement next year, it's not to any place where I'd be represented by a Republican. I'm still interested in finding a place in Spain or Portugal for January through March so that I can avoid the worst of winter weather. The pandemic  has probably deferred plans to do that for a year or two but maybe this time next year. things will have improved.

So now for my final sprint (or is it jog?) to the finish line, this song is appropriate. Moved out to pasture for awhile. 

Feeling slightly better about the country...

since Biden was elected, but still want the Northeast to secede from the US and join with the Pacific Coast to form a new country. 😁 It'll be like East and West Pakistan after India gained its independence in 1947. Of course, historians will point out that there was a lot of suffering and turmoil because of it and then there was also the war that resulted in Bangladesh, so my analogy is a pretty bad one and the idea of secession is not very good either. I guess I will just be thankful that I live in a state that went for Biden. At least, the populous counties did. And I am represented by Democratic senators and a congressperson.

This pandemic is messing up my retirement plans to get a place in Spain or Portugal for the first three months of each year. I was looking at Porto but following it on Yahoo weather, it seemed to be raining all of the time. I also heard the the Azores are very nice too. But since the citizens of this country are personae non grata due to Covid, I will have to postpone any ideas of spending part of my retirement elsewhere. Also it has delayed my anniversary trip to London from work . I wanted to go in summer 2020 but now am hoping for fall 2021. It's been ten years since I have been to Europe.