Post Yur Piture Thead v. Surfin' Bird

[King Postwhore]

Yup.  In Vermont at Hill Farmstead.

[bout to crash]

 

Wish I could've been there as planned, but life gets in the way!

[King Postwhore]

There will be a next time Jackie!!

[Orbert]

Went camping over the weekend.  Hanging out in the fresh air always makes me sleepy, and my wife couldn't resist taking a picture of me napping, so now you all have to deal with it.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

Nice one, Orbert!

I took a stylish selfie.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

The World's Most Interesting Man, in his 20's.

[Orbert]

Seriously.

[Prog Snob]

I didn't know the Spin Doctors were in town.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

I didn't know the Spin Doctors were in town.

[JayOctavarium]

So today was my last day of classroom training and I have to say I am going to miss this group. I spent the past 9 weeks with them... On week one, we were all like statues.  No one talked to each other.  Everyone was scared shitless. Fast forward to today: We are laughing, yelling, flirting etc. It's like we've known each other for years. Even our trainer (the lovely lady in white in the front) was to the point where she could bullshit with us and vice versa.

I'll be working with a couple of these guys and gals directly, and will be seeing a few more occasionally (they work in my building) but I will truly miss the ones who are going to other units and other cities.

It was real. It was fun. It was really fun. 

Today I got my cubicle and tomorrow I will start my crash course on operations and procedures.

[Orbert]

Nice pic!  Welcome to cubicle land, and good luck!

[Big Hath]

love this scene from Tron

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

I didn't know the Spin Doctors were in town.

Thank you for this.

[cramx3]

My aunt through a huge party for my Uncles 60th bday yesterday.  Had a band, an acapella group, my uncle did stand up comedy and also acted out scenes from the Godfather  but my Aunt also changed the lyrics to a song and had all of his nieces and nephews come up on stage and wear a t-shirt and sing the song for him, which I thought was so cheesey when I heard we had to do it, but actually worked really well and was pretty funny.  Regardless, heres the pic of my cousins and me, minus in-laws and my brother.

[Podaar]

Sportin' father's day gift from Mrs. P.

[Nick]

Just got home from a few days in West Virginia with ZeppelinDT and his girlfriend. Been a long time since I posted anything in here, so I figure it's time. Here is one of us after doing a little caving down there. What a crazy and neat experience.



And my furry little Xanadu was quite happy to see me once I got home.

[black_biff_stadler]

So today was my last day of classroom training and I have to say I am going to miss this group. I spent the past 9 weeks with them... On week one, we were all like statues.  No one talked to each other.  Everyone was scared shitless. Fast forward to today: We are laughing, yelling, flirting etc. It's like we've known each other for years. Even our trainer (the lovely lady in white in the front) was to the point where she could bullshit with us and vice versa.

I'll be working with a couple of these guys and gals directly, and will be seeing a few more occasionally (they work in my building) but I will truly miss the ones who are going to other units and other cities.

It was real. It was fun. It was really fun. 

Today I got my cubicle and tomorrow I will start my crash course on operations and procedures.

Tell skirt girl on the left that you know a white guy on the internet that wants her.

[cramx3]

I shotty the girl in the grey pants and black shirt! 

[King Postwhore]

Ah the internet, where fantasy becomes real!

[Prog Snob]

I shotty the girl in the grey pants and black shirt! 

And I shall take the girl crouching, standing next to the purple shirt girl.

And tell Scott Ian standing in front of you, he needs to grow his goatee back.

And the guy standing on the left, I thought Jared Fogle was in prison.

[Dr. DTVT]

Ask Lem from Veridian Dynamics if he needs a lab partner.

And I'll take the girl elbowing Douche LaRouche who is kneeling in front.

[JayOctavarium]

omg you guys

[Podaar]

And I'll take the girl elbowing Douche LaRouche who is kneeling in front.

She kinda looks like she's trying to crap without getting any on the back of her legs.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

So yesterday, we get over to Hershey early to tailgate for the Tesla/REO Speedwagon/Def Leppard show.  We’re RIGHT outside the main gate and get to hear all the soundchecks.  DL did Hysteria for soundcheck.

So it's me, Mrs. C., Jr., and Jr's dad.  They are all sitting at the little folding table we brought along playing dice, when this guy walks up at random and asks for a tissue, his allergies are acting up.  Mrs. C. gets up to get him one, I turn to see what’s happening and even with sunglasses, I recognize this person.  99.9% certain who it is, so I introduce myself, to see if he will do the same.  “Hi, I'm Kevin”, he says.

Kevin Cronin, singer for REO Speedwagon.

He stands away a little, to blow his nose and I’m quietly telling the 3 other oblivious people there “DO YOU KNOW WHO THAT IS???”  They had no idea, so once I told them, Mrs. C. asked if we could get a pic.  He said sure, she grabbed someone from another car to come take our pic, and he was getting a little antsy, didn’t want to start a big thing.  Got a couple of pictures, thanked him and he hurried off on his way.  Very cool.  He’d been out in the parking lot, listening to the soundcheck from out there, to see how it sounded.

[cramx3]

 

[TAC]

Coz, so that old dude is Jr's Dad? Or Jr's Granddad? You hang with your wife's ex?

[Orbert]

That's awesome!  Early REO rocked the house.  You Get What You Play For was required listening in my circle.  I gotta admit, REO lost me when they started scoring hits with silly sappy shit, but I like to believe that they can still rock.  I want to believe.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Coz, so that old dude is Jr's Dad? Or Jr's Granddad? You hang with your wife's ex?

The guy on the left is Jr's dad.  Dude, that's only the tip of the iceberg of what a strange situation we have. 

Our house has a 4-car garage out back that was converted into a fully functioning and livable 1 bedroom apartment.  Jr. and his dad live there while Mrs. C and I live in the house.  Not the most ideal way to do things, but it gives the specific benefit of Jr. not having to spend his life going back and forth between two different homes.  And despite my own petty and selfish wishes that Mrs. C. and I have a home all our own, where I can have her all to myself, I know that Jr. has to come first.  I'm not gonna lie, I'm selfish and it isn't news to her or anyone else, but I make the sacrifices that need made for Jr.'s sake.  So yeah, we see each other every day and we get along great.  We all drink and hang out at the pool and such, pretty routinely.

Want to go further down the trail to WTF-ville?  My first wife was the reason I moved to PA.  I moved here and met her family.  Her family just happened to include her brother and sister.  Her brother is Junior's dad.  Mrs. C. was her sister-in-law.

Time goes on, my wife and I split, around the same time that Mrs. C. and her ex start drifting apart.  She and I have a lot in common, we get together, and the family eventually comes to understand and be okay with it.  Except for my ex, of course, who never really liked Mrs. C. anyway.

Here's how mean and spiteful and hateful my ex is:  After she and I split, her brother and sister chose me over her.

So yeah, it's a ridiculously convoluted story and it's hard to follow, but it somehow manages to work. 

That's awesome!  Early REO rocked the house.  You Get What You Play For was required listening in my circle.  I gotta admit, REO lost me when they started scoring hits with silly sappy shit, but I like to believe that they can still rock.  I want to believe.

They put on a great show.  I still think Keep On Lovin' You is a fantastic song.

[TAC]

Wow Coz. Do you have a psychiatrist living in the basement, or a lawyer living in the loft?


Where are you originally from?

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

I am the first to admit that it is a considerably strange arrangement, but it works.  Another added benefit is that with Jr's. dad being out of work due to disability (back injury), he's at home all day, and can take the dog out while we're gone at work, or when we go out of town for a few days.

Originally, Hawaii.  My dad was in the USAF for 26 years and moved all over the place.  I was born in Honolulu, HI (aka Kenya) and he was transferred to Minot, ND before I was old enough to be able to form any memories of Hawaii.  My first memories are of fucktons of snow as far as the eye could see.  He was then transferred to Langley AFB in Hampton, VA.  He retired and we moved to Roanoke, VA in '84 and they've lived there ever since.  In the same house my mother grew up in.  I moved to PA in '99.

[TAC]

That's interesting.

[bosk1]

I am the first to admit that it is a considerably strange arrangement, but it works.  Another added benefit is that with Jr's. dad being out of work due to disability (back injury), he's at home all day, and can take the dog out while we're gone at work, or when we go out of town for a few days.

Yup, that ain't normal.  But you know what?  Who cares?  If it works for you guys, more power to you.  Sometimes, "normal" and "what's best for everyone under the circumstances" are a far cry from one another. 

Anyhow, cool story about the show.  Sadly, simple things like showing up to the show really early before soundcheck or hanging out behind the venue after the show didn't even occur to me as a kid and weren't on my radar, so I have no idea how common these kinds of occurrences might have been back in the '80s.  But nowadays, it just seems like there are so many more opportunities to ever-so-briefly break the wall between fan and musician, and it's pretty cool when it happens.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Yup, that ain't normal.  But you know what?  Who cares?  If it works for you guys, more power to you.  Sometimes, "normal" and "what's best for everyone under the circumstances" are a far cry from one another.

Exactly.  And people are pretty understanding about it, amazingly.  I get REALLY weird looks whenever we start explaining the entire story, but by the end, it makes sense to people, because it's what works for us and is what's best for everyone.  Like you said, what's best isn't always the same as what's normal.  Sometimes there's a lot of benefit to "going off the script", so to speak.  Living life outside the box allows one to be a little more open to understanding other peoples' "not normal" circumstances, I think.

And yeah, now that we've seen the possible benefits from early arrivals and such, maybe we should employ this tactic more often.  I suspect that this was a fluke and probably a once in a lifetime occurrence, though.  And that's okay.  It was still pretty cool.

[bosk1]

Fluke?  Yes.  Once in a lifetime occurrence?  Probably not.  But you never know specifically what those opportunities will look like or what form they will take.  I don't know if you remember my story about seeing Transatlantic a few years back on the Whirlwind tour, but that is a prime example of the kind of goofy situation that can happen.  To paraphrase:  We got to the Downy Theater early, and eventually heard the band soundchecking inside.  As we were killing time walking around the outside of the theater, we passed by the "Stage Door," and just for giggles, I jiggled the door handle.  To my surprise, it was not locked.  We decided right then and there that it was a moral imperative that we enter.  I mean, this was like an on-the-spot cosmic dare.  So we went in and basically stood there backstage watching Transatlantic sound check.  ...at least, until their tour manager eventually noticed us and told us we had to leave.  But we still milked another few minutes out of the experience by trying to distract him and engage him in conversation about stuff.  And by getting there early, we also stumbled upon someone else who was there that had connections and got us VIP passes for the after show.  So you never know.

And I have had or heard of other experiences as well.  I got to a Lacuna Coil show early in the afternoon, and most of the band were hanging out by the buses in the back parking lot, and were fine talking to the few fans that were there, taking pics, etc.  I have gotten to Y&T shows early, and spotted band members outside (or at nearby restaurants), and have heard lots of similar stories.  I have also heard similar stories about DT shows (although I have not experienced that myself).  You never know...

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

It's a good point.  We should definitely try to get to venues mega-early from now on.  Random stuff DOES happen, like the time that MP and Max sat behind us at the Motley Crue show.