McDugan

What did you sing?

I've come to this thread a few times and still haven't found words that don't feel hollow and empty. Chadd, my sympathy is with you.

Seriously. Be sure to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.

Unfortunately I can't help with the big stuff, but drink lots of ginger tea with honey, sit away from other singers, and concentrate on trusting technique, don't listen to yourself. You may be surprised at how much this helps your singing! And you can take out all your frustration in the Confutatis and Dies Irae, and have a little self-pity party in the Lacrimosa! Very therapeutic. (Unless you can already feel irritation or swelling on your cords... then don't sing!!)

Let's go chronologically... Dec. 15 The only fully professional chorus in town, which has been the single constant in my life for the past 10 years since I moved here, announces that the board has decided to cease operations in May. Dec. 20 Some idiot rear ends my car at a red light causing what turned out to be $4,000 in damage and causing me to be without the car for 2 full weeks due to the shop being closed several days over the holidays. Luckily his insurance covered the $, but, with everything else that went on, it was a stressful situation. Dec. 24 4 month old baby gets sick with cold symptoms Dec. 26 Take baby to pediatrician, get sent to ER to rule out pneumonia. Luckily no Pneumonia, but positive for RSV which can be very serious for infants. Not a total surprise since a daycare mate had RSV the previous week. Dec. 29 After steady improvement over weekend, baby is miserable all night and we rushed her to ER again with a 104 F fever. Turns out congestion from the virus had led to an ear infection. Jan. 4 My father in law takes a nasty fall on a very hard tile floor and breaks his hip Jan. 8 Father in law has hip replacement surgery (they decided on account of previously undiagnosed bad arthritis in the joint, which has probably been causing his near-immobilizing knee pain for the past two years, that replacement was the best course) This morning: Backing out of a parking spot after dropping kids at daycare, I tapped the bumper of the car behind me. Of course he had a license plate frame on the front of his car which put four neat little circular impressions from the bolts into my newly replaced bumper. Now: Father in law has been in ICU since operation, being monitored for "concerns" over his heart. Seemd to be just precautionary at first, but now starting to be worrisome that he's still there.

Aaaaand, in a stunning and near-miraculous display of efficiency, our phone numbers were transferred to our new carrier less than 24 hours after I set up the new account. Why is this in the Venting Spot? It's supposed to take longer, and our SIM cards, shipped overnight, haven't arrived yet. So my wife is stuck home with our 4-week-old and no phone. GUH. Our neighbors on both sides are retired and have landlines, so if there's a dire emergency, she can go to one of them, but JFC, of all times to be expedient, did they have to choose the one that was terribly inconvenient? Edit: And an hour later, I finally heard back from the place I interviewed at nine weeks ago. Didn't get the job. They hired an internal candidate. Why it took nine weeks (during which there were several email exchanges between myself and the woman with whom I interviewed - the first of which she initiated to update me on the status of their interview process) to conclude that they were going to just hire someone who was already there... I just don't know.

That really sucks. Hope the ensuing insurance shitstorm is as tolerable as possible.

LOL I know. Funny thing is, I was an early adopter back before they started requiring data plans. I just used wifi and it was enough for my needs at the time. But I was poor and couldn't bear the extra $40 a month when they started mandating bundled data plans. The evolution of the market for smartphones and the pricing structures surrounding them has been fascinating.

I may live to realize that this doesn't belong in the Sweet Spot, but the wife and I have finally given in and are getting smartphones.

Despite pretty much being a through-and-through city boy, I love camping. Have been on some great large-group family trips over the course of my childhood and young adult life, and then just never had the chance or the inclination for a while. Then last summer before my first was born, the wife and I took a trip just the two of us and had a great time. Every summer since, we keep saying we just can't wait till the kids are old enough to go and really enjoy it. Of course, having just popped out number 2, we've got some time to kill before then.

Welcomed baby Margaret Elise into the world yesterday at 1:00pm. 9lbs, 9oz and 20 3/4 inches. Big girl.

I continue to be amazed by people who seem on the one hand to have no imagination at all, but on the other hand to delude themselves into believing some singular, insignificant thing is of great importance.

And with good reason. Most skates can't handle multiple bakings like the Makos are designed to. So, just as allowing bake-before-buy is responsible Mako salesmanship, the opposite is equally responsible for [edited in light of the below comment - times they are always a-changin'] most many other skates.

Was psyched to go to SummerJam for the first time, and can't go now. Need to run home and help my dad get somewhere that day. My dad is getting close to 70 and has been having some major mobility issues. They think it may be neurological. His younger brother has had some very similar and more severe problems. No answers yet. It doesn't help that he lives in a fifth floor walkup NYC apartment with a huge hill between his place and the subway and most grocery stores, etc. He's a mess for a lot of reasons, alcoholism being chief among them, and I'm not sure if anyone can help him. /vent