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January 4, 1999
C h r o n i c l e ~ Housekeeping 8:30AM PST At Home In Scripps Ranch I got out of bed with the enthusiasm of a student having to go to the principal's office because he had gotten into trouble. I was definitely struggling and it serves me right... playing Crash Bandicoot - Warped into the wee hours of the morning! Sometimes I wished I hadn't bought that damned Sony Playstation for my two boys! I seem to use it more than they do. I drove my wife to work today and my youngest son tagged along for the ride. My oldest son was off to school this morning on the bus. He goes to a different school and has a regular school schedule, as opposed to my younger son's year-round schedule. It makes it confusing sometimes to keep track of two separate school schedules but that's the way it goes. My oldest son is in a program for gifted students and has to go to another school that has this special program. 9:30AM PST Carmel Mountain Main Post Office I checked my post office box this morning. I hadn't done so in quite a spell. The mail was piled up high within the tiny metal box. I received the zip diskette from Pat containing pictures of what I believe is the Las Vegas show at The Freemont Street Experience in November. Since I don't own a zip drive yet, I guess this was a good enough message for me to buy one, since the ability to back up regularly would be beneficial. I let my six year old son open the P.O. Box. He's into this thing where he wants to open doors and things with keys. I guess kids need to practice that sometime so they will get good at it when they get older. I also let him insert the five dollar bill into the stamp machine when we bought stamps. 09:45AM PST At The Bank Depositing Checks After all the New Year's hoopla, I was able to deposit some checks at the bank. My son, who tagged along with me to these morning excursions, held my wallet for me. He kept playing with it and dropping it on the floor. Then he was twirling it around and then he dropped it again. This went on one more time before I took the wallet from his hands and said, "sorry, kid... give me back the wallet". 10:00AM PST At The Supermarket What are the joys of doing grocery shopping at 10AM in the morning on a Monday? Well, for one, no long lines. This is the one advantage of working at night. The best time to do grocery shopping is in the morning during the week, when most people are at work. Never shop during the weekends, especially Sunday, when everyone seems to rush to get things for the coming week. And the aisles in a large supermarket are almost empty in the mornings. The only other good time to shop at a supermarket? Well, try doing it at 2:30 in the morning after you've just played a gig at a night club. I go to those 24 hour supermarkets after a gig now and then. It's a strange feeling, but it's kind of neat. 12:00PM to 4:30PM At Home Doing Housekeeping Well, I never thought I'd play housekeeper during my vacation but what the heck, there were things that needed to be done, and so I tackled my first big assignment of the week, and that was to "clean" the refrigerator inside and out. I'd been looking at that refrigerator for months now, and it hadn't gotten a thorough cleaning for quite some time. Oh how I wished I could just hire a maid service, and just kick back and read some comic books or something. I'm still thinking of the idea, but the band is not yet at a point where we're making a six or seven figure salary, so I have to do all this housekeeping all by myself. It was part of the deal between my wife and me. She would let me play music in a band at nights if I would just take the kids to and from school and do... of course... HOUSEKEEPING!!! My son helped for a while. I guessed after the novelty had wore out, he was back to racing cars and playing with LEGO. I put on some music to get me in the proper mood, and since my son was into this Indiana Jones thing, I thought I'd put on... the soundtrack to Raiders of the Lost Ark. What fun music to clean a fridge to... I sort of gotten my own system going. I'd take one shelf, empty it of all contents, and then wash it thoroughly in the sink. Then I'd go down to the next shelf. I pretty much took out all the inside shelving and trays and such, and cleaned them in the sink with a mild soap, then put each and every shelf back. Since our fridge is completely white it gets dirty easily and quickly, but let me tell you, there's nothing like a clean, white refrigerator... it DOES look attractive. I even had fun arranging and re-arranging all the produce, jars of mayo, etc, until I was quite happy with the arrangement. Of course, good luck trying to keep this beautifully arranged fridge so beautifully arranged! Anyway, I was admiring my "work of art" for several minutes, my achievement for the afternoon, my crowning glory... a sparkling white refrigerator, cleaned inside and out, with all the goodies neatly arranged inside, everything in their proper place... what a sight to behold. Mission accomplished!!! 6:00PM PST Scripps Ranch Public Library I had been sitting there for a good 15 minutes waiting... waiting for someone to sit down at one of the two computers available with Internet access. Apparently, the librarian told me that some people were using both computers and showed me the sign-up sheet. Well, that was 10 minutes ago and I was giving her the benefit of the doubt that maybe these people had gone to the restroom, or were just loafing around nearby. Well, I eventually went back to the counter, the librarian I was talking to was nowhere in sight, and I asked another librarian about the availability of the computers. Score! She let me sign-in to the one computer with cable-access, YES!!! Now I could check my websites and check for email. It's funny how time flies when you're having fun. I guess I had only 10 minutes left and that time passed by all too quickly. It seemed no sooner had I logged on, I was tapped on the shoulder by an elderly woman saying it was her turn to get on the computer. 6:30PM PST Children's Section of the Scripps Ranch Public Library My two boys were here looking for some books to read when all of a sudden, my oldest boy was looking for a Science book. So I led him to the section where all the Science books were, and he was SO excited, as if those books were candy. We borrowed a ton of books about inventions, reptiles, electricity, etc. It had just dawned on me that my oldest son was going through some sort of book renaissance with all this Science stuff. Of course, he had been prancing around the house in a "scientist" outfit, something he had concocted by putting together a white smock from my sister-in-law who's a nurse, and goggles from another costume, and surgical gloves (also from my sister-in-law). Now the connection has been made, and so he spent much of the rest of the evening reading science books. 9:30PM PST At Home In The Study Room I read about a woman in New York City who was pushed into the path of a subway train and was killed instantly. She was only 32 years old and had dreams of working in the movie industry. She had been working on a screenplay and it looked like things were beginning to come her way. It was such a random, senseless act, I felt so sorry for the parents. Having to outlive your son or daughter has got to be one of the toughest crosses to bear in life. The 29 year old man who pushed her to her death has had a history of mental problems, and was seen muttering to himself just before he asked her for the time, then pushed her. It just makes you want to be more aware of your immediate surroundings. On the day after this horrific incident, everyone waiting in subway stations were staying clear of the edges of the loading platforms. I would definitely do the same if I were in the same position. Who knows if there might be any copy-cats out there... who would want to take the chance. It seems that life is just some crazy, volatile existence sometimes. Very unpredictable, and that anything could happen. 
Today's Listenings:
James Brown - The CD Of JB Stevie Wonder - Original Musiquarium Fourplay - Greatest Hits Today's Play Station Games:
Crash Bandicoot - Warped Current Readings:
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