Labor Day McCartney Times

Wow, what a last few days I've had, in terms of BUSYBUSYBUSY but as I've said un millon times before, what else is new. Like B.B. King sings, "Movin' faster than the speed of sound / Faster than the speeding bullet / People living like Superman / All day and all night / And I won't say if it's wrong or if it's right / I'm pretty fast myself..."

So jeez, uh, last week (and I have to consult my Google calendar to refresh my memory--I survive by that thing--Red is Job #2, Yellow is Job #1, and Blue is my personal schedule/social life/music gigs/rehearsals/Sheriff's Office stuff) I was actually glad that rehearsal got cancelled b/c George flaked out on us and I had some much-needed and extremely rare free evening time! Then Aaron flaked out on me too but it's ok b/c I did some work on Sundance's songs on my own.

Friday Leo called a necessary make-up rehearsal but b/c I clearly wasn't happy about giving up my and Stefano's Friday night together Leo sweetened the deal by offering to make a dinner of his famous beer-butt chicken for everyone, so we agreed. I worked from home on Friday and that was so relaxing, and after Job #2 I picked up Stefano and we headed to Leo's. I brought a big bottle of sangria I've had in my fridge since that crazy guitar player friend of mind came over that March afternoon to entertain me and brought the 2 bottles; we'd drank one. Stefano and I picked up fruit on the way and pie for dessert. After a nice dinner and some business talk (we have entered the IBC and so have some SERIOUS strategizing and tightening up to do!!!) we had a quick rehearsal, working up 3 new Leo original songs. I tell you what, after all this rehearsing w/the monster Aaron and learning Sundance's songs, I am quickly becoming a fearless bass player. Leo's songs were easier to pick up for me now that I'm quickly building my bass vocab as well as chops.

Saturday thank God was a mostly unscheduled day, although I had to do some work on my sheriff Personnel file and tidy up my house which was getting out of hand, and honestly I can't remember right now what else filled up the day but I know the day was chockfull until B's 50th birthday party that evening. Oh now I remember, Stefano and I met Rozzy to buy the GK amp head ($400) and then went to Guitar Center to try and find a cabinet but GC didn't have what I wanted, damn them! We met Bonnie and her friends at a healthy restaurant near her house and I had to have two of their Pomegranate-tini's! All the food there is way healthy and YUM! Then we headed across the street to a neighborhood bar for more drinks and homemade cupcakes but I was tired and we receded into the night as I do and were back at Stefano's house at a somewhat decent hour.

Sunday I had to be at the Marine Base for my annual day of working with the Marine Division. It turned out I was with the same Sgt. I worked with last year, and his platoon. There were 5 of us and 2 boats and the Sgt. paired me with him. Another deputy said of course the Sgt. would pair himself with the pretty girl and send the 3 dudes out on 1 boat, ha ha! I said then he needed to take the next Sgt's exam when it came around and make Sgt. so he could exercise such power! We all headed to Subway for lunch but just as we pulled into the parking lot we got a call that there was an asshole on a red and black jet ski sideswiping people on the water and acting a damn fool, so no lunch for us as we headed straight to the river to try and see if there was anything we could do, which was doubtful. That's b/c we were about an hour from even getting on the damn river when you consider we had to drive to that part of town, launch the boat, and then get to that specific beach where the idiot was spotted! But we had to at least make a show of it.

Natch, we didn't find him. And b/c I'm so out of practice packing for an all-day shift on the river, I'd forgotten a few key items back at home that I'd planned on bringing, specifically my snacks which were forgotten and sitting on the damn counter!!! Thank God I remembered 3 bottles of water and my radio holder but I forgot my stupid ticket book at home, also my flashlight which I didn't think I'd need but you never know. Also thanks to Jesus H. Christ I'd found a couple packs of leftover Orbit gum in my bag which is what I ended up having for lunch! Now all you boys and girls see why I don't like working Marine Division? TRAPPED on the water, man.

After a couple boring hours the Sgt. remembered that I know how to operate a Duracraft so he scooted over and let me take over. Yay! (Said slightly sarcastically.) And of course that's when all the real work began, when I'm at the helm! 1st we had to tow a boat to shore that had a conked-out motor. I've never towed a boat in my life and since it's been a year that I operated a boat, I felt miserably out of practice and not just a little skittish, but I had to just put on my professional police game face and pray to God for the best and most importantly, BELIEVE I could do it. And I did! I was soooo nervous operating near people and the beaches were so incredibly packed with swimmers and kids and canoe-ers and dogs and all their friends and family but when in doubt I just threw the throttle into neutral in hopes of not killing anyone TOO quickly. But I did just fine! I also always get soooooo nervous around the dock, always scared I'm gonna crash the boat into it, but again that was all right too. WHEW!!!!!

Later on I successfully managed to get the boat right next to both a jetski and another boat at the same time (Woo-hoo Dep. Adela!!!), dock the boat 2 more times, got the boat up at top speed (~35 mph) a few times (when I was bored), and more annoyingly, navigate through manymanymany other boats' and jetskis' wakes. I had told the Sgt. though that I absolutely had to be out of there by 8pm for my paying gig in Pearland and although there had been drownings almost every weekend the entire summer (people are so fucking stupid--I swear the potential for human stupidity on the water year after year will never, ever cease to surprise me) the Sgt. said that he would do his best to make sure I got out of there in a timely manner, even if it meant I had to have Stefano come pick me up, which he agreed to do as a last resort.

Towards the end of the shift around 6:30pm we had a call of a boating accident and my heart sank, but really it was just an idiot jetskier who collided with the back of a boat, scratching it. The boat owner wanted a report done--of course he did! So we headed over there and I docked the boat w/out incident although I relied on the kindness of a nearby stranger to tie me off, heh heh. The other deputies were already there and one of them came over and said he liked the way I handled the boat. I thought he was kidding but he was totally serious, and the Sgt. said they were gonna make a boat operator out of me yet! After that the Sgt. said to go ahead and head back to the beach where we'd put in and he asked if I could go get the truck and back up the trailer. Now that is DEFINITELY something I'm not the best at--I can do it of course, but I have to go reeeeeal slow and I almost did jackknife the trailer once a couple years ago! So after he saw the hesitation on my face he said he'd go get it but I offered to trailer the boat! I can do that all right, usually. And even though by the time he backed the trailer down the ramp and there were other deputies there (including the Lt.!) and that used to make me sooooo nervous, having other deputies and the general public watching me attempt to do anything boating-related, this time I really didn't care and I trailered the boat with a self-grade of A-. How's THAT for personal growth!

After I picked up my car I raced home, driving through KFC b/c I was starving and wouldn't have time to eat once I hit home and had to shower/change/load up, etc. Stefano came over to help me get my amp in the car and he drove us to Pearland which is not too terribly far from our 'hood. Leo, George and George's wife were already there. Stefano and I took a breather and went outside to smoke and some older guy spotted me with my pipe and was so tickled he offered to buy us drinks, so we sat w/him and his lady friends for a bit. We were the middle act in the 3-band night but it was kinda lame b/c the room was huge and not really full and the folks that were there were mostly into their eating. It seemed like no one was really paying attention but when we were done I was already headed offstage and they all of a sudden wanted an encore but I told Leo they could have an encore if they tipped! I didn't mean to be a bad sport but seriously, tipping will get an audience what they want every time and if they wanted more they could cough up some cash and/or buy the CD!

Oh man. That's enough of an update for now. I don't even have time to drink much these days, which is always good for keeping the calories down! Rehearsals galore this week are on the horizon with my 2 bands. Also I have GOT to finish this Personnel report and I have a work book club book to read too, by Thursday! Lemme got on some o' this...