Unbanded, week 33: The choir has laryngitis
The phrase of the day is "spoke too soon."
This morning, we woke to hear about snow in various parts of the Chicago area. O'Hare got a trace, so it's the first measurable snowfall of the season. About 8 AM, when I got in the shower, I let mom know that we didn't get any. Then, 40 minutes later, as I'm back in my room and getting dressed, mom comes down the hall yelling, "Spoke too soon!" I looked out my window and...damn. By the time I got outside, enough had accumulated that I had to clean off my car. Thanks, October.
Fast-forward to after 6 PM tonight. I'd read yesterday's email, about how the band didn't want the groups in the band building for more than an hour total, so I sat in my car for a bit before deciding to go in about 6:15. I'd managed to park somewhat close, but not facing the building. I got out, turned around--and there is NO ONE in the parking lot closest to the door. Not a single car. I've never seen that lot so empty. In contrast, there were a decent amount of cars in the park's lot, where I was--not a ton, but definitely more than last week, when there were about three cars total. Hmm. I was expecting to see the director's and Flute 2's cars, figuring they'd be sorting music. That's why I wanted to go in a little early; Flute 2 said there was a bag of loose flute choir music that needed to be put away, and anyone could do that, so I figured I'd be helpful. But no cars meant no one was inside, and the building was locked, so I went back to my car, glad I'd parked pretty close, and tried to check my mail.
I have a Google account that I use strictly for my phone that I leave logged in. However, my band emails go to my regular Gmail account, and after my Gmail app got borked a year or two ago, I've had to go directly to gmail.com in order to check mail. Getting it sorted so that I could check my regular account and not my phone account took WAAAY longer than it should have, and sure enough, there were a couple emails, namely that the city, which owns the building, had not authorized anyone to use it, and therefore any rehearsals were immediately canceled until further notice and there would not be any scheduling of small ensembles. Oops. Well, okay then. There was a second email from the flutes, hoping that we'd see the notice before going to rehearsal and that we'd get to play together again sometime soon.
It's disappointing, but understandable. I'm okay with it. Considering indoor dining is not currently allowed in the area, I can't imagine any social gathering is really okay. Also, last week when it rained, I discovered my passenger side windshield wiper had partially shredded at the tip, and made a mental note to replace it soon. Then tonight, when I left work for rehearsal, I saw that one of my headlights was out. Grr! Didn't I just replace it like a year ago? So, instead of rehearsal, I went to Walmart, though I did stop at home first to drop off all my stuff. It was 36F outside and I didn't want to leave it in my car, and it was too much to carry inside. I consoled myself with a spool of leather cord, which I've wanted for ages. Time to make a second batch of bracelets! I'd redone a set that had been on stretch cord, putting it on hemp, and I like them a lot, but I have a second set of bracelets that I felt should be on a nicer material. And I still got home about the same time I would've if I'd had rehearsal.
One last thing, and what made my bag fuller than when I'd left the house: My boss' mom showed up shortly after 12 PM today. She'd come in the same time on Saturday and was surprised to see me there, and I'd explained that both the boss and the manager were out of town, so I got to work. She was grateful for that. Today, she walks in holding a small gift bag and says, can you come with me? Uh, okay. I followed her to our conference room, where she said, I didn't want to do this in front of YC, but thank you so much for coming in on Saturday, and she handed me the bag. I am now the proud owner of a balsam and cedar scented candle. Oh wow, thank you. That was unexpected, especially given our history, but I appreciated it.
This morning, we woke to hear about snow in various parts of the Chicago area. O'Hare got a trace, so it's the first measurable snowfall of the season. About 8 AM, when I got in the shower, I let mom know that we didn't get any. Then, 40 minutes later, as I'm back in my room and getting dressed, mom comes down the hall yelling, "Spoke too soon!" I looked out my window and...damn. By the time I got outside, enough had accumulated that I had to clean off my car. Thanks, October.
Fast-forward to after 6 PM tonight. I'd read yesterday's email, about how the band didn't want the groups in the band building for more than an hour total, so I sat in my car for a bit before deciding to go in about 6:15. I'd managed to park somewhat close, but not facing the building. I got out, turned around--and there is NO ONE in the parking lot closest to the door. Not a single car. I've never seen that lot so empty. In contrast, there were a decent amount of cars in the park's lot, where I was--not a ton, but definitely more than last week, when there were about three cars total. Hmm. I was expecting to see the director's and Flute 2's cars, figuring they'd be sorting music. That's why I wanted to go in a little early; Flute 2 said there was a bag of loose flute choir music that needed to be put away, and anyone could do that, so I figured I'd be helpful. But no cars meant no one was inside, and the building was locked, so I went back to my car, glad I'd parked pretty close, and tried to check my mail.
I have a Google account that I use strictly for my phone that I leave logged in. However, my band emails go to my regular Gmail account, and after my Gmail app got borked a year or two ago, I've had to go directly to gmail.com in order to check mail. Getting it sorted so that I could check my regular account and not my phone account took WAAAY longer than it should have, and sure enough, there were a couple emails, namely that the city, which owns the building, had not authorized anyone to use it, and therefore any rehearsals were immediately canceled until further notice and there would not be any scheduling of small ensembles. Oops. Well, okay then. There was a second email from the flutes, hoping that we'd see the notice before going to rehearsal and that we'd get to play together again sometime soon.
It's disappointing, but understandable. I'm okay with it. Considering indoor dining is not currently allowed in the area, I can't imagine any social gathering is really okay. Also, last week when it rained, I discovered my passenger side windshield wiper had partially shredded at the tip, and made a mental note to replace it soon. Then tonight, when I left work for rehearsal, I saw that one of my headlights was out. Grr! Didn't I just replace it like a year ago? So, instead of rehearsal, I went to Walmart, though I did stop at home first to drop off all my stuff. It was 36F outside and I didn't want to leave it in my car, and it was too much to carry inside. I consoled myself with a spool of leather cord, which I've wanted for ages. Time to make a second batch of bracelets! I'd redone a set that had been on stretch cord, putting it on hemp, and I like them a lot, but I have a second set of bracelets that I felt should be on a nicer material. And I still got home about the same time I would've if I'd had rehearsal.
One last thing, and what made my bag fuller than when I'd left the house: My boss' mom showed up shortly after 12 PM today. She'd come in the same time on Saturday and was surprised to see me there, and I'd explained that both the boss and the manager were out of town, so I got to work. She was grateful for that. Today, she walks in holding a small gift bag and says, can you come with me? Uh, okay. I followed her to our conference room, where she said, I didn't want to do this in front of YC, but thank you so much for coming in on Saturday, and she handed me the bag. I am now the proud owner of a balsam and cedar scented candle. Oh wow, thank you. That was unexpected, especially given our history, but I appreciated it.