Tootsie Yr2: Dallas part 1
It was a normal if long travel day.
I ate lunch at the airport, a rarity for me but it just worked out that way this time.
Both flights were fine. Jameson told me that there were thunderstorms last night, which is great news for my banana trees.
Riding the bus into Dallas gave me some nostalgia. It's another "circus city", so I recognize much of it from my time with the circus (we were also there for two weeks at a time). I'm hopeful to make some nice new memories here with this tour.
The hotel is decent, but I just keep having the WORST luck with rooms lately, this time my key cards didn't work and then my sink was completely clogged and after maintenance left it was STILL clogged so now I have to get some Drain-o or whatever.
They offered to switch my room but I was like...over a clogged sink?? No, I'll wash dishes in the tub if I have to. It should have been checked and fixed before anyone else stayed in the room.
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Tuesday I woke up regretfully early, but for a good cause: to visit Village Baking Co for my loaf of bread for the week.
It was far enough, and I was tired enough, that I chose to Uber instead of walk.
I got there just about an hour after they'd opened, but it was pretty busy in there for a Tuesday morning. In fact someone came in and bought the last almond croissants while I was there, and I was lucky to snag one of the last two loaves of Meyer lemon rosemary bread as well. I also picked up a pretzel croissant, having never seen one before.
Before heading back to the hotel I stopped at Tom Thumb for Drain-o and protein shakes.
At the hotel I administered the Drain-o and admired the croissant, which was very big and beautifully laminated.
The outside has been dipped in lye like a pretzel, creating a chewy skin sprinkled with salt.
The texture and flavor combo was phenomenal. I ate half and saved half for later.
The lemon rosemary bread was also fantastic, I tried a little piece while wrapping it up.
A crusty boule with a subtle citrus flavor, coupled with the herbal rosemary, and the crumb is fluffy and dense which will make for excellent sandwich bread.
After that I wanted to rest but the Drain-o didn't work, the pipes under the sink began absolutely pouring water out onto the floor :(
So I called maintenance again, and they got the sink to drain veeeeeeeeerrrry slowly and also fixed the leaking pipes.
Whatever. Moving rooms would take over an hour for me to pack everything up again + groceries, move it all, rearrange the room again, unpack again. So if I can at least use the sink to brush my teeth I'll live with it. For once, though, it would be nice if a two-week stay didn't involve a filthy room, or fixtures that don't work. Idk why I'm having such awful luck with this lately but I hope it passes.
In other news, we did get our money back from our payroll company along with profuse apologies.
Our company management promised an explanation, which never came (there was a general one in the initial email so I guess they figured that was enough, but HOW and WHY Vensure was able to take whatever they wanted from my checking account without any permissions was never actually explained.) After inquiring on the travel day I got another explanation letter that still didn't really cover the how/why, and included the words, "It was an honest mistake" which truly made me cringe to read. All this tells me is that Vensure does not have nor will they incorporate failsafes to prevent massive withdrawals in the unlikely-yet-apparently-possible event of a system error + my employer is fine with continuing a relationship with this company.
So since Vensure has no protections in place, and since my employer is going to continue forward with them, I have to protect myself on this one. At Jameson's suggestion I called my bank to see if there was a way to block Vensure from making withdrawals. Lo and behold there's a thing called stop-debit, which is just what it sounds like. Now Vensure may deposit my check, but they will be declined if they ever try to withdraw again. Hopefully. We'll see how it goes.
That behind me, I walked to the theatre for sound check.
We're playing the Winspear Opera House, the name of which made me think of another 1920s space but it's actually a modern theatre with climate control, big dressing rooms, and one of the most lovely pieces of modern theatre decor I've seen.
This is the Opera House chandelier, when it is "down".
It is made up of rods illuminated by colorful LED lights, inspired by and intended to look like shooting stars.
Raising the chandelier takes about two minutes, and the rods rise up in a sort of randomized way to mimic shooting stars, all nestling themselves into the "night sky" ceiling one at a time until they are points of light.
As guests enter the theatre the chandelier is in "down" position for all to enjoy.
When the performance is about to start, the chandelier rises, and a two-minute composition is performed to accompany it.
Currently the composition is "The Lights Are Rising" by a local high school student. That's pretty cool!
I got this video from my spot deep in the pit, so it's not the best angle, but now you see what I will see every night for two weeks in Dallas.
The chandelier is capable of a lot more as far as movement and color patterns and such, CLICK HERE to see another great video of that.
If you want to see the technical aspects of how this all works, CLICK HERE
Anyway, it was very cool to see and will be an enjoyable opening to our show each night.
The band mascot, David Hasselsloth, has the best view of all of us I must say ;)
My friend Brandon was in the audience and enjoyed the show immensely.
We didn't have time to catch up tonight, but hopefully later this week while he's in town for a rehearsal.
Oh also! I have a HUGE dressing room all to myself this week!
So of course I had to make a big todo over it :P
TikTok by @tromboneontour
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, a normal morning followed by a walk to Sandwich Hag for lunch!
The weather was overcast and humid and windy, but it wasn't too hot especially with the cloud cover, so it was an enjoyable walk.
A tunnel under the Convention Center and DART station:
A pretty wildflower along the way:
Some murals:
It took a minute to realize I'd arrived. The building is unmarked from the direction I came in, and I had almost passed it before I saw their logo on the side (along with a sign saying the entrance was around back).
So I went around back and found a pickup window and a small outdoor seating area.
They had just opened so there was no line, the cashier was charming and friendly, and he had a line of little jars next to him containing merch like stickers, pins, keychains, and a stack of t-shirts. I saw enamel pins so HAD to get one, then ordered the grilled chicken banh mi and a side of fried nem nuong. I also got a local vegan horchata that was pretty good.
While I waited for the food I admired the patio, painted with tropical plants and flowers and hummingbirds.
(and yes, I thought about my banana tree back home)
There were Sandwich Hag logos here and there too.
Here is my enamel pin. There is a protective film on it which I peeled off later.
The food was ready in about 15 minutes, and it was awesome.
The nem nuong is made in-house and is then fried to make it crispy on the outside, moist and tender on the inside.
It came with a spicy peanut dipping sauce and a small picked daikon-carrot salad.
I ate half the sausage and all of the veggies.
The banh mi was a grilled chicken thigh marinated in lemongrass and garlic, on a house-made baguette with garlic aioli, cucumber, fresh cilantro, jalapeno, and more pickled veg.
Banh mi are a rather basic sandwich, but even the most basic dish is elevated when the ingredients are fresh and made right there in house. And that was the case here. Sandwich Hag was nominated for a James Beard Award THIS YEAR, and I can see why. It's great that they're being recognized for the high quality of their food and service.
As I nommed away people came and went, all of them excited to be there. Several ladies had a mini photoshoot of their food with REAL cameras, I wonder if they were bloggers or press of some sort. A gaggle of businessmen came through, one leading the others who had apparently never been there before. A mother and child, with mom getting a coconut coffee and kiddo begging to try it.
All in all, a really nice lunch and relaxing way to spend the afternoon :)
I walked back, handing off the rest of my sausage bites to a homeless guy who panhandled me outside a 7-eleven but keeping my half-sandwich to myself for dinner. It was a 3-mile round trip, plus the walk to the theatre is a mile each way, so I've certainly gotten my exercise today.
At the hotel I rested a bit before walking to Neiman Marcus (posh!) for a haircut.
This salon was too nice for the likes of me, but at this point in my life I've had too many bad haircuts at mid-priced places, so whenever I can afford a high-end haircut I am willing to pay the price. The stylist was friendly and we chatted, mostly him prompting me with questions and me rambling because socialization makes me nervous. I walked out with my normal cleaned-up bob or whatever.
Then I got to truly chill out for about two hours, had the rest of my fabulous sandwich for dinner, and walked to the theatre for the show.
My friend Adria came to the show, albeit a bit stressed because one of her elephants was sick.
We happened to run into each other as she was heading to the box office and I was headed to the stage door, so we chatted a bit about what was happening with her animal.
This is something that a lot of people (looking at you, activists) don't realize about what it means to work with animals.
It means they ALWAYS come first. Before your ideals, before your social obligations, before your own needs many times.
I feel sad that Adria was stressed, but also proud for her, because she is doing very important work whether people recognize it or not.
The show went well, nothing to report except that the chandelier was in a different pattern-configuration before it was raised.
I guess the theatre has fun with that. Very cool!
Between walking to the restaurant, walking to the haircut, and walking to and from the theatre, I got seven miles in today. Tired!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now it is Thursday morning and I thankfully, magically, don't have anywhere to be for most of the day.
I received an invite to apply for a job so I'll work on that, and hopefully do laundry, bookmark more jobs, and work on Foodie Finds.
It's supposed to rain so that's a good excuse to do quiet indoor things.
Jameson is traveling to visit with one of his musical idols today.
I won't share details until he does, but I'm very excited for him!
I ate lunch at the airport, a rarity for me but it just worked out that way this time.
Both flights were fine. Jameson told me that there were thunderstorms last night, which is great news for my banana trees.
Riding the bus into Dallas gave me some nostalgia. It's another "circus city", so I recognize much of it from my time with the circus (we were also there for two weeks at a time). I'm hopeful to make some nice new memories here with this tour.
The hotel is decent, but I just keep having the WORST luck with rooms lately, this time my key cards didn't work and then my sink was completely clogged and after maintenance left it was STILL clogged so now I have to get some Drain-o or whatever.
They offered to switch my room but I was like...over a clogged sink?? No, I'll wash dishes in the tub if I have to. It should have been checked and fixed before anyone else stayed in the room.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday I woke up regretfully early, but for a good cause: to visit Village Baking Co for my loaf of bread for the week.
It was far enough, and I was tired enough, that I chose to Uber instead of walk.
I got there just about an hour after they'd opened, but it was pretty busy in there for a Tuesday morning. In fact someone came in and bought the last almond croissants while I was there, and I was lucky to snag one of the last two loaves of Meyer lemon rosemary bread as well. I also picked up a pretzel croissant, having never seen one before.
Before heading back to the hotel I stopped at Tom Thumb for Drain-o and protein shakes.
At the hotel I administered the Drain-o and admired the croissant, which was very big and beautifully laminated.
The outside has been dipped in lye like a pretzel, creating a chewy skin sprinkled with salt.
The texture and flavor combo was phenomenal. I ate half and saved half for later.
The lemon rosemary bread was also fantastic, I tried a little piece while wrapping it up.
A crusty boule with a subtle citrus flavor, coupled with the herbal rosemary, and the crumb is fluffy and dense which will make for excellent sandwich bread.
After that I wanted to rest but the Drain-o didn't work, the pipes under the sink began absolutely pouring water out onto the floor :(
So I called maintenance again, and they got the sink to drain veeeeeeeeerrrry slowly and also fixed the leaking pipes.
Whatever. Moving rooms would take over an hour for me to pack everything up again + groceries, move it all, rearrange the room again, unpack again. So if I can at least use the sink to brush my teeth I'll live with it. For once, though, it would be nice if a two-week stay didn't involve a filthy room, or fixtures that don't work. Idk why I'm having such awful luck with this lately but I hope it passes.
In other news, we did get our money back from our payroll company along with profuse apologies.
Our company management promised an explanation, which never came (there was a general one in the initial email so I guess they figured that was enough, but HOW and WHY Vensure was able to take whatever they wanted from my checking account without any permissions was never actually explained.) After inquiring on the travel day I got another explanation letter that still didn't really cover the how/why, and included the words, "It was an honest mistake" which truly made me cringe to read. All this tells me is that Vensure does not have nor will they incorporate failsafes to prevent massive withdrawals in the unlikely-yet-apparently-possible event of a system error + my employer is fine with continuing a relationship with this company.
So since Vensure has no protections in place, and since my employer is going to continue forward with them, I have to protect myself on this one. At Jameson's suggestion I called my bank to see if there was a way to block Vensure from making withdrawals. Lo and behold there's a thing called stop-debit, which is just what it sounds like. Now Vensure may deposit my check, but they will be declined if they ever try to withdraw again. Hopefully. We'll see how it goes.
That behind me, I walked to the theatre for sound check.
We're playing the Winspear Opera House, the name of which made me think of another 1920s space but it's actually a modern theatre with climate control, big dressing rooms, and one of the most lovely pieces of modern theatre decor I've seen.
This is the Opera House chandelier, when it is "down".
It is made up of rods illuminated by colorful LED lights, inspired by and intended to look like shooting stars.
Raising the chandelier takes about two minutes, and the rods rise up in a sort of randomized way to mimic shooting stars, all nestling themselves into the "night sky" ceiling one at a time until they are points of light.
As guests enter the theatre the chandelier is in "down" position for all to enjoy.
When the performance is about to start, the chandelier rises, and a two-minute composition is performed to accompany it.
Currently the composition is "The Lights Are Rising" by a local high school student. That's pretty cool!
I got this video from my spot deep in the pit, so it's not the best angle, but now you see what I will see every night for two weeks in Dallas.
Click to viewThe chandelier is capable of a lot more as far as movement and color patterns and such, CLICK HERE to see another great video of that.
If you want to see the technical aspects of how this all works, CLICK HERE
Anyway, it was very cool to see and will be an enjoyable opening to our show each night.
The band mascot, David Hasselsloth, has the best view of all of us I must say ;)
My friend Brandon was in the audience and enjoyed the show immensely.
We didn't have time to catch up tonight, but hopefully later this week while he's in town for a rehearsal.
Oh also! I have a HUGE dressing room all to myself this week!
So of course I had to make a big todo over it :P
TikTok by @tromboneontour
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, a normal morning followed by a walk to Sandwich Hag for lunch!
The weather was overcast and humid and windy, but it wasn't too hot especially with the cloud cover, so it was an enjoyable walk.
A tunnel under the Convention Center and DART station:
A pretty wildflower along the way:
Some murals:
It took a minute to realize I'd arrived. The building is unmarked from the direction I came in, and I had almost passed it before I saw their logo on the side (along with a sign saying the entrance was around back).
So I went around back and found a pickup window and a small outdoor seating area.
They had just opened so there was no line, the cashier was charming and friendly, and he had a line of little jars next to him containing merch like stickers, pins, keychains, and a stack of t-shirts. I saw enamel pins so HAD to get one, then ordered the grilled chicken banh mi and a side of fried nem nuong. I also got a local vegan horchata that was pretty good.
While I waited for the food I admired the patio, painted with tropical plants and flowers and hummingbirds.
(and yes, I thought about my banana tree back home)
There were Sandwich Hag logos here and there too.
Here is my enamel pin. There is a protective film on it which I peeled off later.
The food was ready in about 15 minutes, and it was awesome.
The nem nuong is made in-house and is then fried to make it crispy on the outside, moist and tender on the inside.
It came with a spicy peanut dipping sauce and a small picked daikon-carrot salad.
I ate half the sausage and all of the veggies.
The banh mi was a grilled chicken thigh marinated in lemongrass and garlic, on a house-made baguette with garlic aioli, cucumber, fresh cilantro, jalapeno, and more pickled veg.
Banh mi are a rather basic sandwich, but even the most basic dish is elevated when the ingredients are fresh and made right there in house. And that was the case here. Sandwich Hag was nominated for a James Beard Award THIS YEAR, and I can see why. It's great that they're being recognized for the high quality of their food and service.
As I nommed away people came and went, all of them excited to be there. Several ladies had a mini photoshoot of their food with REAL cameras, I wonder if they were bloggers or press of some sort. A gaggle of businessmen came through, one leading the others who had apparently never been there before. A mother and child, with mom getting a coconut coffee and kiddo begging to try it.
All in all, a really nice lunch and relaxing way to spend the afternoon :)
I walked back, handing off the rest of my sausage bites to a homeless guy who panhandled me outside a 7-eleven but keeping my half-sandwich to myself for dinner. It was a 3-mile round trip, plus the walk to the theatre is a mile each way, so I've certainly gotten my exercise today.
At the hotel I rested a bit before walking to Neiman Marcus (posh!) for a haircut.
This salon was too nice for the likes of me, but at this point in my life I've had too many bad haircuts at mid-priced places, so whenever I can afford a high-end haircut I am willing to pay the price. The stylist was friendly and we chatted, mostly him prompting me with questions and me rambling because socialization makes me nervous. I walked out with my normal cleaned-up bob or whatever.
Then I got to truly chill out for about two hours, had the rest of my fabulous sandwich for dinner, and walked to the theatre for the show.
My friend Adria came to the show, albeit a bit stressed because one of her elephants was sick.
We happened to run into each other as she was heading to the box office and I was headed to the stage door, so we chatted a bit about what was happening with her animal.
This is something that a lot of people (looking at you, activists) don't realize about what it means to work with animals.
It means they ALWAYS come first. Before your ideals, before your social obligations, before your own needs many times.
I feel sad that Adria was stressed, but also proud for her, because she is doing very important work whether people recognize it or not.
The show went well, nothing to report except that the chandelier was in a different pattern-configuration before it was raised.
I guess the theatre has fun with that. Very cool!
Between walking to the restaurant, walking to the haircut, and walking to and from the theatre, I got seven miles in today. Tired!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now it is Thursday morning and I thankfully, magically, don't have anywhere to be for most of the day.
I received an invite to apply for a job so I'll work on that, and hopefully do laundry, bookmark more jobs, and work on Foodie Finds.
It's supposed to rain so that's a good excuse to do quiet indoor things.
Jameson is traveling to visit with one of his musical idols today.
I won't share details until he does, but I'm very excited for him!