This place is a madhouse!
0 Comments Published by Oh Wayward One on 29 January 2010 at 1/29/2010 09:52:00 am.
We are putting together our "Pièce de résistance" as a company today and tomorrow (one of the things that has been keeping us up at nights, sending us to Zambia, sending us to the loony bin, etc etc for about the last 4 months) - our biggest project ever as a little company. It's a major African Devpt Bank funded conundrum between 2 countries who can't agree - a huge EIA for a giant bridge that will be built across the Zambezi river, including a One-stop border post between the countries of BW and ZAM, and pedestrian underpasses for elephants crossing below deck, etc etc. Whatever. Hundreds of pages have been written and figures drawn and drawings figured and what-what-what, and the Client has to have a draft tomorrow.
So it's a madhouse around here. But almost over.
Anyway I was just thinking, as I was listening to this week's This American Life podcast - I'll remember 2009 as the year I discovered podcasts. I downloaded a TAL episode when we were back in the US for xmas, and The Mr. and I played it in the car for the first time on the way back to BW from Joburg after landing back on African soil. Every week since then I've happily collected my TAL, & All Songs Considered podcasts, which have now also over time blossemed into episodes of Onion News Broadcast, Mark Twain stories, Banjo video tips, Car Talk, and some others which have came and went. I got kind of nostalgic for 2009 just there for a second - don't know why.... if anything listening to all those NPR type broadcasts makes me think about how nice it would be to live in the US again at some stage and have all these things at my disposal at the flick of a button. Well anyway, in my brief spirit of whimsy, I got online and finally got around to donating 10 bucks to TAL, since after all, I am thriving off their bandwidth and giving nothing in return.
OK so getting back to Crazy E from DC (see 2 blogs ago), the other day guess who sends The Mr. a message pleading with him for all this crap? Yeah. Well I told him "it's in your court now, pal", but he has the same annoyances I do. On the other hand she did bring up a good point in her email of request to him (which she so politely managed to feign interest in our life in a few sentences within, good for her. A wee personal touch helps, as I was saying) - that good point being "it's not anything that you wouldn't already have to fill in on your entry card into the US when you fly in to visit". True. For the most part. Albeit I don't remember "name of employer" being one of those questions. But I digress!
The very next day, SuperFriend and Personal Legal Advisor Extrordianaire, SheofDC wrote me an email after reading my blog saying "that's all BS! She obviously can't read the fed govt application - she only needs that stuff if you work for a foreign govt!" (paraphrasing, of course). Which then took me from "over it" to "annoyed again!!!" But also teaching me a valuable lesson: Get this issue off the table already before it drives me insane!!! (Which is SO anti-2010, yo!) So I let myself have a wee rant to the boys at the office during coffee time, the next day, got it all out, re-hashed it for the last time, and have dually moved on, not even asking The Mr. whether or not he's going to comply with her orders. Gone & forgotten.
So this weekend promises to be interesting, if nothing else. Mainly based on the fact that I received a phone call from Frau Meister (the 74y.o. violinist from my geriatric quartet) instructing me to come to her 75th bday party, and to bring something to eat, and my viola. With which we will play a few movements of something or other for the other party attendees. Then there will be a meal (of the food we all bring). There will be some drinks. Then, she continued, she will put on a video tape of a famous violinist, und ve vill watch it! OK!! So that's what my posse is doing between the hours of 5 and 8pm on saturday anyway! Whew! No more wondering, there!
I made the mistake of, when I was repeating my instructions (for confirmation & understanding, of course) back over the phone, saying "something to drink, and something snacky" while going back over what I would bring. "NO! Not snacky!" This was a MEAL we're talking about here. As in pot-luck dinner.... not snacks!! OK! OK! Got it!!
I make fun of Frau Meister only because I do really love her. She just is "that way". But hey, she's like a 75 year old 5-foot-tall Quaker lady and in very poor health and weighs about 60lbs (not to mention an amazing violinist) so really I mustn't give her too hard a time. I have to say, the last time I moaned about being "summoned" over to play Dvorak just before Xmas and I had been so flat out busy and didn't have time to practice - I went in with a bad attitude, and ended up playing really well, and enjoying it thoroughly, and then having mega residual guilt because I had been so mean about being summoned in the first place.
OH speaking of playing can I just say I CAN NOT WAIT for July - - - as I have had no one to jam with (banjo) since Jeremy died last year, I am freaking DYING to have some sort of social playing session with ANYONE... seriously, my teeth are itching and my skin is crawling and I find myself desperately playing along to my iPod. I'm so freaking musically lonely!!! aghghhhhh. So I mentioned this to Dave (back home) and he said not only would he organize a giant Hometown Basement Concert for Bangladesh with all our old buddies (in Gary's basement) for my homecoming, would I also sit in on banjo with his band for a few tunes at their gig at the Winery on the 2nd!?!!? How much louder can you type "HELL TO THE YEAH"!!?!?!
Well, gotta git on with this deadline now so that's all.
So it's a madhouse around here. But almost over.
Anyway I was just thinking, as I was listening to this week's This American Life podcast - I'll remember 2009 as the year I discovered podcasts. I downloaded a TAL episode when we were back in the US for xmas, and The Mr. and I played it in the car for the first time on the way back to BW from Joburg after landing back on African soil. Every week since then I've happily collected my TAL, & All Songs Considered podcasts, which have now also over time blossemed into episodes of Onion News Broadcast, Mark Twain stories, Banjo video tips, Car Talk, and some others which have came and went. I got kind of nostalgic for 2009 just there for a second - don't know why.... if anything listening to all those NPR type broadcasts makes me think about how nice it would be to live in the US again at some stage and have all these things at my disposal at the flick of a button. Well anyway, in my brief spirit of whimsy, I got online and finally got around to donating 10 bucks to TAL, since after all, I am thriving off their bandwidth and giving nothing in return.
OK so getting back to Crazy E from DC (see 2 blogs ago), the other day guess who sends The Mr. a message pleading with him for all this crap? Yeah. Well I told him "it's in your court now, pal", but he has the same annoyances I do. On the other hand she did bring up a good point in her email of request to him (which she so politely managed to feign interest in our life in a few sentences within, good for her. A wee personal touch helps, as I was saying) - that good point being "it's not anything that you wouldn't already have to fill in on your entry card into the US when you fly in to visit". True. For the most part. Albeit I don't remember "name of employer" being one of those questions. But I digress!
The very next day, SuperFriend and Personal Legal Advisor Extrordianaire, SheofDC wrote me an email after reading my blog saying "that's all BS! She obviously can't read the fed govt application - she only needs that stuff if you work for a foreign govt!" (paraphrasing, of course). Which then took me from "over it" to "annoyed again!!!" But also teaching me a valuable lesson: Get this issue off the table already before it drives me insane!!! (Which is SO anti-2010, yo!) So I let myself have a wee rant to the boys at the office during coffee time, the next day, got it all out, re-hashed it for the last time, and have dually moved on, not even asking The Mr. whether or not he's going to comply with her orders. Gone & forgotten.
So this weekend promises to be interesting, if nothing else. Mainly based on the fact that I received a phone call from Frau Meister (the 74y.o. violinist from my geriatric quartet) instructing me to come to her 75th bday party, and to bring something to eat, and my viola. With which we will play a few movements of something or other for the other party attendees. Then there will be a meal (of the food we all bring). There will be some drinks. Then, she continued, she will put on a video tape of a famous violinist, und ve vill watch it! OK!! So that's what my posse is doing between the hours of 5 and 8pm on saturday anyway! Whew! No more wondering, there!
I made the mistake of, when I was repeating my instructions (for confirmation & understanding, of course) back over the phone, saying "something to drink, and something snacky" while going back over what I would bring. "NO! Not snacky!" This was a MEAL we're talking about here. As in pot-luck dinner.... not snacks!! OK! OK! Got it!!
I make fun of Frau Meister only because I do really love her. She just is "that way". But hey, she's like a 75 year old 5-foot-tall Quaker lady and in very poor health and weighs about 60lbs (not to mention an amazing violinist) so really I mustn't give her too hard a time. I have to say, the last time I moaned about being "summoned" over to play Dvorak just before Xmas and I had been so flat out busy and didn't have time to practice - I went in with a bad attitude, and ended up playing really well, and enjoying it thoroughly, and then having mega residual guilt because I had been so mean about being summoned in the first place.
OH speaking of playing can I just say I CAN NOT WAIT for July - - - as I have had no one to jam with (banjo) since Jeremy died last year, I am freaking DYING to have some sort of social playing session with ANYONE... seriously, my teeth are itching and my skin is crawling and I find myself desperately playing along to my iPod. I'm so freaking musically lonely!!! aghghhhhh. So I mentioned this to Dave (back home) and he said not only would he organize a giant Hometown Basement Concert for Bangladesh with all our old buddies (in Gary's basement) for my homecoming, would I also sit in on banjo with his band for a few tunes at their gig at the Winery on the 2nd!?!!? How much louder can you type "HELL TO THE YEAH"!!?!?!
Well, gotta git on with this deadline now so that's all.
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