Tuesday Night Ramble
Tuesday, August 23rd, 2022 08:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snoozefestaudioI'm slowly turning my thunder tracks into MP4s on the desktop. Each one takes a while to render. Once I've got them all done, then I'm gonna start uploading them to YouTube and recreate the, Thun Thunder Fun playlist there, before I start uploading cricket tracks of 2022.
I'm out there recording tonight in the back yard from 8:30 to 10:30PM, with the basket low to the grass. I feel like there's a better chance of getting field crickets and wing tappers earlier in the evening, when it's still in the 70sF.
Traffic is heavier, and neighborhood dogs are more likely to bark earlier in the evening, but... if the crickets are good, I can edit that stuff out.
------------{=0=}------------
Went today to get fingerprinted for the new employer, then sat down with my new manager to talk about the job and sign a few things.
Found out I not only get medical, but also dental and optical... no co-pay, and no deductible!.. as a part time worker! That alone is worth it, no matter what I'm paid!
They'll probably start me at $13.50 an hour, but... like I said, the benefits are more than worth it... as is, getting my foot in the door with a big corporation that has room for me to move up. I can certainly advance back into maintenance at some point, and if I need to get licensed to qualify... I'm sure they'll send me to get that training at their expense. That's how it always works.
For now, the branch I'm entering is specifically contracted to do the custodial and maintenance work for a local school district. So I'll be a janitor from 3PM to 7PM, most likely at a grade school, or middle school.
But the nice thing is, I don't show up until the students are gone!
Peace and quiet... just doing my little routine every night... as that little paycheck gets direct deposited into my bank account. Weekends off. Paid Holidays. Out of the elements. Short commute!
Money's gonna be tight at first, sure!.. but I've gotten myself back in the habit of living on a shoestring this past summer, so I'll be okay.
With my last two years at the previous job, where I was making bigger bucks, and with the 401K money I cashed out after resigning... I paid for all the big things.
I got the gutters on the house cleaned and screened. Flipped our cellar into a workshop. Bought a ton of tools and other maintenance supplies. Did a bunch of landscaping, repairs, and draft proofing. Bought a lawn mower.
I've got two desktop computers and a little emergency laptop... a scanner, a printer, two phones!
And in possibly the greatest coup of my whole unemployment, I traded in my two year old car at the exact moment in this chip shortage, where it was worth MORE than what I'd bought it for, and got a ten year old toyota van with it... for a lower car payment and lower insurance!
--<>--
As far as rent goes... if it wasn't obvious, I'm living with my 87 year old Dad.
So, the deal's been, since 2015, that I take care of... everything in leiu of rent.
So, everything, would include everything from plumbing, electrical, and structural repairs to home improvements, to landscaping and mowing the lawn, to walking his dog in the winter when it's too slippery, to shoveling and salting in the winter...
To vacuuming, and other housekeeping... to managing his finances... to getting him new furniture, clothing, and even a new TV, when his old tube TV became too obsolete to function with modern cable.
For a long time I did pay for most of that out of my own pocket... even after I'd quit my last job.
So... that's something you can do if you happen to be single with no kids at my age, and have an elderly parent who owns property.
But that's why rent is not and expense. He has a state pension on top of Social Security, so he pays the mortgage and utility bills out of that. But with the improvements I've made to this place, he's saving money on water, electric, and gas, compared to when I first moved back.
--<>--
Not that any of this is really relevant to a blog about field recording but... you know, it's back story, I guess.
Things are tougher for some and easier for others, depending on your age... your location... and the general hand you were dealt at birth. And it does help, in my case, to be Irish and have light skin. I will not deny that!
But if you have anybody to pool your resources with... and any kind of support network... and play the game for a couple decades... take advantage of boom times... avoid predatory credit traps... have a little luck... and stay in tune with the universe... you can get by.
You might not be famous or rich, but you can get by.
--<>--
And when I say, stay in tune with the universe... a recent example of that for me was Snoop & Prowly.
I knew I wanted two sibling striped kittens at some point. Didn't know when, or how. But I had some food and cat litter ready, just in case. And then... after a year and a half, I just pulled into my driveway and there was a girl holding them, looking to find them a home!
I didn't have to know anybody, or go to a shelter. Some little girl just appeared in my yard holding them!
And I wasn't necessarily ready to commit to kittens that day, but... the sign was so unmistakable, I had to assume it was the right move!
And that lead me, a week later to conceding it was time to find a job...
And again... after an hour of looking for a job I'd kinda pictured for a year and a half... part time janitor... and nothing else... BAM! The first call back the next day was the one I'm taking now!
--<>--
I am not religious, but... I do feel like, if you're aligned with caring for... and caring about... other people, and life forms, and nature... you do have a mystical advantage that science cannot necessarily explain at this time.
I guess I'd extend that to caring about history too? Like... understanding how the place where you live got to be what it is, and who the people were... what their lives were like... where they're buried...
Well, if nothing else, that gives you a better sense of how you fit into the scheme of things. But it MIGHT give you a slight assist from ghosts, if they're real?
I mean... it can't hurt to try for the ghost assist!
------------{=0=}------------
Okay, well... this was a bit of a ramble tonight, because I'm killing some time while the S8 is out there recording, and my other computer is busy rendering MP4 versions of my thunder tracks.
Hopefully I'll have something new to upload to SoundCloud soon.
°¦}
https://soundcloud.com/snoozefestaudio
I'm out there recording tonight in the back yard from 8:30 to 10:30PM, with the basket low to the grass. I feel like there's a better chance of getting field crickets and wing tappers earlier in the evening, when it's still in the 70sF.
Traffic is heavier, and neighborhood dogs are more likely to bark earlier in the evening, but... if the crickets are good, I can edit that stuff out.
Went today to get fingerprinted for the new employer, then sat down with my new manager to talk about the job and sign a few things.
Found out I not only get medical, but also dental and optical... no co-pay, and no deductible!.. as a part time worker! That alone is worth it, no matter what I'm paid!
They'll probably start me at $13.50 an hour, but... like I said, the benefits are more than worth it... as is, getting my foot in the door with a big corporation that has room for me to move up. I can certainly advance back into maintenance at some point, and if I need to get licensed to qualify... I'm sure they'll send me to get that training at their expense. That's how it always works.
For now, the branch I'm entering is specifically contracted to do the custodial and maintenance work for a local school district. So I'll be a janitor from 3PM to 7PM, most likely at a grade school, or middle school.
But the nice thing is, I don't show up until the students are gone!
Peace and quiet... just doing my little routine every night... as that little paycheck gets direct deposited into my bank account. Weekends off. Paid Holidays. Out of the elements. Short commute!
Money's gonna be tight at first, sure!.. but I've gotten myself back in the habit of living on a shoestring this past summer, so I'll be okay.
With my last two years at the previous job, where I was making bigger bucks, and with the 401K money I cashed out after resigning... I paid for all the big things.
I got the gutters on the house cleaned and screened. Flipped our cellar into a workshop. Bought a ton of tools and other maintenance supplies. Did a bunch of landscaping, repairs, and draft proofing. Bought a lawn mower.
I've got two desktop computers and a little emergency laptop... a scanner, a printer, two phones!
And in possibly the greatest coup of my whole unemployment, I traded in my two year old car at the exact moment in this chip shortage, where it was worth MORE than what I'd bought it for, and got a ten year old toyota van with it... for a lower car payment and lower insurance!
As far as rent goes... if it wasn't obvious, I'm living with my 87 year old Dad.
So, the deal's been, since 2015, that I take care of... everything in leiu of rent.
So, everything, would include everything from plumbing, electrical, and structural repairs to home improvements, to landscaping and mowing the lawn, to walking his dog in the winter when it's too slippery, to shoveling and salting in the winter...
To vacuuming, and other housekeeping... to managing his finances... to getting him new furniture, clothing, and even a new TV, when his old tube TV became too obsolete to function with modern cable.
For a long time I did pay for most of that out of my own pocket... even after I'd quit my last job.
So... that's something you can do if you happen to be single with no kids at my age, and have an elderly parent who owns property.
But that's why rent is not and expense. He has a state pension on top of Social Security, so he pays the mortgage and utility bills out of that. But with the improvements I've made to this place, he's saving money on water, electric, and gas, compared to when I first moved back.
Not that any of this is really relevant to a blog about field recording but... you know, it's back story, I guess.
Things are tougher for some and easier for others, depending on your age... your location... and the general hand you were dealt at birth. And it does help, in my case, to be Irish and have light skin. I will not deny that!
But if you have anybody to pool your resources with... and any kind of support network... and play the game for a couple decades... take advantage of boom times... avoid predatory credit traps... have a little luck... and stay in tune with the universe... you can get by.
You might not be famous or rich, but you can get by.
And when I say, stay in tune with the universe... a recent example of that for me was Snoop & Prowly.
I knew I wanted two sibling striped kittens at some point. Didn't know when, or how. But I had some food and cat litter ready, just in case. And then... after a year and a half, I just pulled into my driveway and there was a girl holding them, looking to find them a home!
I didn't have to know anybody, or go to a shelter. Some little girl just appeared in my yard holding them!
And I wasn't necessarily ready to commit to kittens that day, but... the sign was so unmistakable, I had to assume it was the right move!
And that lead me, a week later to conceding it was time to find a job...
And again... after an hour of looking for a job I'd kinda pictured for a year and a half... part time janitor... and nothing else... BAM! The first call back the next day was the one I'm taking now!
I am not religious, but... I do feel like, if you're aligned with caring for... and caring about... other people, and life forms, and nature... you do have a mystical advantage that science cannot necessarily explain at this time.
I guess I'd extend that to caring about history too? Like... understanding how the place where you live got to be what it is, and who the people were... what their lives were like... where they're buried...
Well, if nothing else, that gives you a better sense of how you fit into the scheme of things. But it MIGHT give you a slight assist from ghosts, if they're real?
I mean... it can't hurt to try for the ghost assist!
Okay, well... this was a bit of a ramble tonight, because I'm killing some time while the S8 is out there recording, and my other computer is busy rendering MP4 versions of my thunder tracks.
Hopefully I'll have something new to upload to SoundCloud soon.
°¦}
