Turn It Up

2008-02-28 - 12:08 p.m.

Was up too late again last night. I had planned to go to sleep early, but it wasn't to be. And then of course I couldn't fall asleep - I just laid there for awhile.

The sore throat and raspiness is gone - I'm down to a sinus drip that causes an occasional cough. Problem is, laying on my back (which is the easiest position with the CPAP) makes it easier for my sinuses to drip into my throat, so I cough. And, since I haven't had the brains to get some Robitussin, I've been resigned to taking very small doses of Brin's stash of cherry NyQuil. But boy, does that do a number on the cough.

So if I can manage to drag myself out of the apartment, a trip to the store is in my future.

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Got word from Bob Chance yesterday that the "bar-owned" PA speakers and PA system have been taken out, and we need to bring our own gear back. It turns out that the equipment was owned by one of the bartenders, and not the bar. The bartender quit, and took the stuff with her. That's fine, and perfectly understandable. Here's the I-don't-get-it part - the bar owner never called Bob and told him. It took an e-mail to Bob from one of the other bar employees to let us know about it. I would have walked in Friday night and been told we needed to bring our own columns - and how easy would it have been to get a truck to haul them over in time?

She's done this before. A couple months ago, I walked in at 8pm for a 9pm start. There was a new PA and speaker set-up that I'd never seen before, and had no frame of reference. The owner comes up and tells me that we can use their gear, that we have permission. But everything is set up in a totally unfamiliar way - different speakers and electronics that I have no clue how to work. And I have about one hour to set up my own gear (drum kit, et al) and help Bob with his stuff AND figure the new gear out!

Then she comes up to me and says, "Well, if you can't figure it out, you can always put the other speakers up and use them." Those "other speakers" - the ones we had used the previous week, are HUGE and all piled over in the corner. To her, it seemed like no big deal to 1) break down the other gear, 2) take it offstage, 3) set up the huge alternate set onstage, and 4) wire it up for use...ON TOP OF getting set up to play.

This time we at least had a couple day's notice. Gad, wonder what's gonna happen next with this person.

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Maybe Brin can comment on this: In San Francisco, getting a ten-foot-long wheelchair-access ramp installed in City Hall - to allow access to the board president's podium - will wind up costing over $1 million. That's $100,000 per foot.

Here's a quote from Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier, who uses a wheelchair:

"I deserve equal access to every part of the chamber," Alioto-Pier told her colleagues, adding that ending discrimination is worth the $1 million.

So it's worth more that $1 million of the taxpayer's money for her to get up to that podium. Comment, Brin?

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The president of the Sudan has banned all Danes from his country in response to the reprinting of the Muhammad cartoons.

And al-Qaeda has called for the death of Geert Wilders, the Danish politician who made a film critical of the Koran...even though the film hasn't even been released.

"We are a religion of peace, and we'll kill anyone who says otherwise." Sorry - unless moderate Muslims are willing to speak out as publicly and as angrily as the extremists, this will not stop.

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The one main difference between Hillary's mandated health care and Obama's mandated health care is Hillary's plan has penalties if you don't join. Here's an article detailing yet another reason why this kind of national health plan is a bad idea.

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Okay, I just saw that Raven-Symone has rerecorded the old song "Double Dutch Bus". That's the one that started with the line, "Gimme a 'ho' if ya got yer funky bus fare!"

All together now - WHY???

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Okay. It's a little past noon. Tine to figure out what I'm going to do today.

Laundry, or Park. Hmmm.

Be seeing you.

Brin - 2008-02-28 15:58:41 -
Miz Alioto has every right in the universe to ascend to a podium on a ramp. It's not her fault that San Francisco is a union town and that it costs a hundred bucks every time a union builder bends his ass over and moves a stick of wood from the pile to the project.

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Jeff - 2008-02-28 18:17:15 - http://musicman6724.diaryland.com
Ugh. I wish Raven would just go away.

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Bob - 2008-02-29 08:36:10 - http://shadowgm.diaryland.com
It's not the union's fault on this one. Check Phil Matier's column - the mess starts with City Hall being a historical landmark, and the project includes more than the ramp.

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