So it's been a busy week, haven't had a chance to update the ole blog...first off, my oldest daughter hasn't been able to keep food down for over two weeks. Been to the doctor with her twice in that time, second time she was sent to the ER...STILL no results, we're supposed to go back on Friday for a follow up with the pediatrician...
...but this blog is about the in-laws. Now, I couldn't ask for in-laws that were better than what I have. Love them as if they were my own parents, and they've done a lot for us. My studio in the garage? Courtesy of my father-in-law. Stepping in to help out with childcare two days a week when our other arrangements fell through? There's Nana to save the day (and she makes a killer sandwich when I'm running late too!)
So, she's juggling a lot. Aside from helping us with our kids (ADHD daughter and son, toddler daughter, and the middle daughter trying to keep up and carve her niche and get her share of attention), she is the full time caregiver for HER own mother. Now, she's a piece of work. She plays the helpless victim, so dependent, everyone has to pay attention to her...if she isn't the centre of attention, she runs downstairs to her granny suite to sulk...
...so last week especially, she's been a big pain in the...you know...Mom is so stressed out from dealing with that, and with everything else going on, she ends up in the hospital with a heart attack, and several minor attacks since then. She'll have to have an angioplasty, and a bit of time to recover.
So the wife and I, we're looking for alternative childcare, but that's the least of our worries...but feel free to click on some links on the right hand side folks! Our main concern is how to create and maintain a stress free environment for Mom when she gets home.
Grandma is NOT co-operating. I tell you the truth readers, while Mom lies in bed, Grandma continues to stress her out. She has the nerve to complain that she doesn't know what's going on (not true, it's been explained to her MANY times), but she's upset that mom has "left her alone."
Umm...not by choice Grandma!
I'm extremely p.o.'d...if it was up to me, I'd go pack her things and deliver her tale to the retirement home IMMEDIATELY...while that is the best course of action (admittedly in my opinion), the general consensus is that it either needs to be Mom's idea, or the systems (Grandma has a nurse come by a couple of times a week, they can determine to move her if it's in her best interests.)
So, I invite you to engage in healthy CONSTRUCTIVE dialogue via the posting of your comments. When is the right time to make that difficult decision? It's hard, I know, and I'm not related to Grandma by blood, so maybe I'm a little detached...but I love my mother-in-law, and I'm tired of her being manipulated by my wretched grandmother in law, who is not as dotish as she would have people believe her to be...I mean, she's been dressing herself for the past 5 days, she "couldn't" when mom was home! Nuff said!
Now, I'm sure someone is going to say "When do you want your kids to pack you off to a retirement home?", to which I respond "NEVER!" I'll have a plan in place and a doctor I trust to let us know when it's time for me to have part and/or full time care.
So yeh, please share your thoughts! Am I off base? A cold, unfeeling rat? Let me know what you think, no worries!
Music content: I think my writer's block is starting to lift, I have some life experience to put to music...well, once I have time, after cooking, cleaning, and watching the kids while the better half is helping with her mom...which I don't begrudge...so I'll hopefully be finishing the demo for "The Breakdown", which was sent to a drummer buddy of mine to lay the good drum track, after which I'll re-track the bass and then lay an organ pad, and we'll post it here sometime soon!
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Now playing: Orin Isaacs - Rock The Bass
via FoxyTunes
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Writer's Block
Yup, the big WB. I'm supposed to be composing tunes for my debut music project, and I've got two ideas in mind, possibly a third....tracked one of them for a Leland Sklar tribute that isn't going to be used (I'm not bitter or upset about that, it's not right for the project...) and was supposed to track a second for another shot at it, but I have no desire suddenly to create.
Stress at work I think has something to do with it. It's the end of our year and I need to shave $2k more from overdue accounts...kids are sick...gotta take my oldest to the doctor's first thing in the morning...
...now, see, I should be able to take that stuff, and generate a GREAT album! Lots of material for some bluesy, soulful angst driven tracks! But I'm tired of that. I don't want to write anymore love songs...even though I'm married to the love of my life, it's no reflection on her...I'm just feeling "meh" about everything.
Decided too, not to buy or rent (unless it's specifically needed for a one-off gig) any new (or used/new to me) gear for at least this year, with the exception of rental buyouts...partially a financial thing, partially to discipline myself to learn chops rather than gear. The thing is...I LOVE gadgets, and the thought of not giving into G.A.S. (see previous blog) is kind of depressing...no G.A.S for a year? Hopefully there's some prototypes coming down the pipleline from Traynor to try out...
Heck, even this blog is a result of the 'block, I couldn't come up with anything to write, so I'm writing about that!
So, I have a bar mitzvah gig this weekend, first one in awhile. Haven't played the Playground material in some time, so when I'm done this, I'm going to familiarize myself with some of the more difficult tracks, though all of our stuff is jammed out. The Playground is my favourite gig, I'm hoping this weekend will spark some creative juices flowing.
Also, I need to see if I can put together a jam band for a local establishment on a weekly basis. Used to show up there and actually sat in as part of the houseband a couple of times before the gig got shut down. The owner is looking for another band a different night of the week...if I can find the right guys...well, the right front person to build a band around...then a great drummer to hook up with to get a tight rhythm section...a sick guitarist, who's capable of leavng his ego at the door...and hot damn, we have a jam band!
So yeh, I'll sign off before I start writing nonsense. It's 2 PM, I need to flip the laundry and run some tunes...love that the studio is semi-detached from the house...hopefully I'll have something more interesting to write next week, peace!
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Now playing: All-Star Tribute - What's Going On
via FoxyTunes
Stress at work I think has something to do with it. It's the end of our year and I need to shave $2k more from overdue accounts...kids are sick...gotta take my oldest to the doctor's first thing in the morning...
...now, see, I should be able to take that stuff, and generate a GREAT album! Lots of material for some bluesy, soulful angst driven tracks! But I'm tired of that. I don't want to write anymore love songs...even though I'm married to the love of my life, it's no reflection on her...I'm just feeling "meh" about everything.
Decided too, not to buy or rent (unless it's specifically needed for a one-off gig) any new (or used/new to me) gear for at least this year, with the exception of rental buyouts...partially a financial thing, partially to discipline myself to learn chops rather than gear. The thing is...I LOVE gadgets, and the thought of not giving into G.A.S. (see previous blog) is kind of depressing...no G.A.S for a year? Hopefully there's some prototypes coming down the pipleline from Traynor to try out...
Heck, even this blog is a result of the 'block, I couldn't come up with anything to write, so I'm writing about that!
So, I have a bar mitzvah gig this weekend, first one in awhile. Haven't played the Playground material in some time, so when I'm done this, I'm going to familiarize myself with some of the more difficult tracks, though all of our stuff is jammed out. The Playground is my favourite gig, I'm hoping this weekend will spark some creative juices flowing.
Also, I need to see if I can put together a jam band for a local establishment on a weekly basis. Used to show up there and actually sat in as part of the houseband a couple of times before the gig got shut down. The owner is looking for another band a different night of the week...if I can find the right guys...well, the right front person to build a band around...then a great drummer to hook up with to get a tight rhythm section...a sick guitarist, who's capable of leavng his ego at the door...and hot damn, we have a jam band!
So yeh, I'll sign off before I start writing nonsense. It's 2 PM, I need to flip the laundry and run some tunes...love that the studio is semi-detached from the house...hopefully I'll have something more interesting to write next week, peace!
----------------
Now playing: All-Star Tribute - What's Going On
via FoxyTunes
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Get Rich, quick!
Yeh, right! Pay $X, get some friends to sign up, and get them to sign up friends, and watch the profits roll in...
...well, the problem is, all the people who get in on the ground floor so to speak, make all the dough. The people who come afterwards, well, the market's saturated by all the "grounders" who recruited you along with others that you could have recruited or recruited the person who recruited you; they make their money off the people who come after them...so if you don't get in early, and/or get seriously industrious in recruiting in untapped markets, you're outta luck!
Now, I'm not necessarily a fan of these schemes, pretty much they all come off as a pyramid arrangement (See above paragraph, the top of the pyramid makes dough based on the next level, and so on down the line...) But if there's an opportunity to get in on something when it starts, why not?
So, I have a Facebook account (which is how some of you may have stumbled on this blog.) My wife in her neverending quest to help me get nice bass and studio gear without impacting family finances, signed me up for a brand new Facebook App called "ChattoText." My own main reason for signing up for it is that if someone needs to get in touch with me right away for a gig or something and they don't have a cell phone to text me but they have access to the net (yeh, how likely is THAT to happen...) then they can send me an SMS message through my Facebook page using this application...so it's useful, for $6/month, nothing huge, and I'll write it off at tax time anyways and get some back.
The interesting thing though, is that for each person you recruit, they'll give you some cash back right away. This little video promo they showed gave a figure of over $7K/month...sheyaa right!
Still...this is a brand new thing...and as I said before, if you get in on the ground floor...so who knows? So I invited 5 friends (current max/day) who I think may find it useful, and who I also think wouldn't mind making a few extra bucks...tomorrow I may invite five more...I truly don't expect this to make me a millionaire, but hey! Maybe in three months I'll be sitting on my very own island in the South Pacific drinking a cooler and typing this blog using a satellite uplink...
(...knowing Ms. Groove, she'll have the referrall link up within the next day or so, check it out and leave a comment to let me know what YOU think!)
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Now playing: J Moss ft. Anthony Hamilton - I'm Not Perfect
via FoxyTunes
...well, the problem is, all the people who get in on the ground floor so to speak, make all the dough. The people who come afterwards, well, the market's saturated by all the "grounders" who recruited you along with others that you could have recruited or recruited the person who recruited you; they make their money off the people who come after them...so if you don't get in early, and/or get seriously industrious in recruiting in untapped markets, you're outta luck!
Now, I'm not necessarily a fan of these schemes, pretty much they all come off as a pyramid arrangement (See above paragraph, the top of the pyramid makes dough based on the next level, and so on down the line...) But if there's an opportunity to get in on something when it starts, why not?
So, I have a Facebook account (which is how some of you may have stumbled on this blog.) My wife in her neverending quest to help me get nice bass and studio gear without impacting family finances, signed me up for a brand new Facebook App called "ChattoText." My own main reason for signing up for it is that if someone needs to get in touch with me right away for a gig or something and they don't have a cell phone to text me but they have access to the net (yeh, how likely is THAT to happen...) then they can send me an SMS message through my Facebook page using this application...so it's useful, for $6/month, nothing huge, and I'll write it off at tax time anyways and get some back.
The interesting thing though, is that for each person you recruit, they'll give you some cash back right away. This little video promo they showed gave a figure of over $7K/month...sheyaa right!
Still...this is a brand new thing...and as I said before, if you get in on the ground floor...so who knows? So I invited 5 friends (current max/day) who I think may find it useful, and who I also think wouldn't mind making a few extra bucks...tomorrow I may invite five more...I truly don't expect this to make me a millionaire, but hey! Maybe in three months I'll be sitting on my very own island in the South Pacific drinking a cooler and typing this blog using a satellite uplink...
(...knowing Ms. Groove, she'll have the referrall link up within the next day or so, check it out and leave a comment to let me know what YOU think!)
----------------
Now playing: J Moss ft. Anthony Hamilton - I'm Not Perfect
via FoxyTunes
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