Talk about a rollercoaster ride...

Monday. To start with, no hot water. Actually, we can start with a bad night's sleep due to the heat, then the no hot water. Then, my computer eats the music newsletter three or four times before I'm able to finish it, presumably because the KVM switch is sending a phantom F5 command while I'm working on a CGI form. I banged my knee on my desk, and not even out of frustration. After an unremarkable start to vocal classes, I meet friends for dinner and do that thing that I hate so much, itemizing what I had to eat and paying accordingly, instead of just dividing the bill equally. Except that my cash burn is still too high right now, so I have to. Then on to check out another open mike night, except they're not doing them anymore. And the apartment is still a bit uncomfortable, even though it's cooling down outside.

Tuesday. Still no hot water at first, but that gets fixed later and I'm able to combine a cold shower with a bowl of water boiled on the stove to reasonable effect. There's a marketing research conference down at the Hyatt, and having scored an exhibit hall pass, I hope to network a bit. And hey, there's free lunch! From a job-searching POV, the conference was a bust, but in terms of building a resource base in the event that I wind up in more of a management role, it worked. Upon arriving home, I have an e-mail from the Chicago Fire asking if I can do the radio play-by-play on Saturday in Columbus, and a phone call from my friend Gerald, who asks if I want to replace him on a 10-day tour of Europe with Utah Carol in November. I'm actually not sure about that yet, but there's more. On to Vaughan's, where Tony asks if I can play two gigs next week with him. Plus, we've got this enthusiastic table of people clapping along for most of the set. If I hadn't choked violently on the middle parts of Open Up and Video Killed the Radio Star, the day might have been damn-near perfect.

Wednesday. There's no ignoring the significance of this day. Last year, friends and family had legitimate reason to think I might have been a victim of the terrorist attacks, as the plane that went down in Pennsylvania was initially reported as being a Chicago to New York flight, a route I was supposed to be taking that morning. After the flights were grounded, I wound up staying at Midway Airport until almost noon, because I figured that would be last place any terrorist in their right mind (an oxymoron?) would hit, but the unintended side effect was that noone heard from me for a while. I said it then, and I'll say it again now, I used to wish I could see people's reaction to my dying back in high school, just to see if anyone, mostly classmates, cared. I take it all back.