More Snow

It's snowing once again in Denver. Britni is supposed to land tomorrow morning at 10:30. I hope her flight doesn't get cancelled. I would be really mad. There are so many varying weather reports that it's hard to tell what is going to happen. The airport is still open but some of the airlines have been cancelling flights to thin out their service at DIA. It's not snowing real hard but it is cold enough to have ice problems. I closed the office today because of the roads. All of the government agencies are asking that people stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary. There are chain requirements for commercial vehicles on all of the major highways. At best there is one slushy lane open on each one. Oh well. I guess this is what I bargained for moving to Denver. In some ways I kind of like it. It's just a little bit annoying twice in one week.

_E_

Snow, Travel, Christmas and Stuff

Well, it has certainly been an eventful week. Last Tuesday Britni landed here in Denver. Wednesday I woke up an the snow was coming down so hard I couldn't see the building on the other side of the road. I went and picked Britni up for breakfast and while we were on our way back to my apartment Harold called to tell me to close the office for the day. It was snowing so hard that we actually closed!!! Britni and I decided to go to Mimi's Cafe for breakfast and then run some errands. We got to our second to last stop, Home Depot, and when we went to leave the car wouldn't start. It was snowing like mad and it was butt cold. I narrowed it down to the starter itself and decided to have the car towed to the mechanics. I then called a bunch of car rental places and finally found what was probably one of the last SUV's in the state. By this time Denver International Airport (DIA) was closed for the first time in history. The only road going to it was so dangerous to drive on they closed it. That's awesome.

Our company Christmas party was scheduled for Wednesday night as well. The food was already cooked and ready to go so we couldn't reschedule it. We usually have a bus come around and pick everybody up at their homes but they couldn't even get out of their garage with the bus. We decided to get as many people out there as we could so we who had four wheel drive picked up as many of those who didn't as we could and headed out to Harold and Judy's. It was a great drive. It was snowing so hard sometimes we couldn't see the car fifty feet in front of us. I love it!

It was a great party. There was a ton of good food. The snow was falling all night long. We talked a laughed a lot. Harold and Judy gave us our "company presents" for lack of a better term. I got a great Spyder ski parka with the company logo on it, a big bonus, and a huge, completely unexpected raise!!! Oh, and I got the employee of the year award.

After the party the snow was so deep that every vehicle that we brought out to Harold and Judy's got stuck on the road in front of their house. We dug each one out and were on our merry way by 2:15am.

On Thursday we woke up to more snow falling. DIA was announcing that it would be closed until noon on Friday. Britni called and got a refund on her flight and we made plans to drive back to Des Moines on Friday. The highway that we needed to take was opened back up on Thursday around 10:00pm.

We left at 10:00am on Friday and made it back to Des Moines at 10:15pm. It was a great drive. We took the 4Runner that we had rented because my car hadn't even been looked at due to the storm. They had to dig it out before they could even roll it in to the shop.

On Saturday I took Britni to work and ran errands all day. Sunday was Christmas Eve and I decided to fix her mom's downstairs toilet. We went to Home Depot and got the parts I needed and I rebuilt the insides of the tank. When I was done I went upstairs to wash my hands in the kitchen and when I went to turn on the water, the faucet felt like it was going to fall off in my hand. I decided to fix it. I started to take it apart and it began to fall to pieces in my hands. At that point I figured out what I was going to get her mom for Christmas. I got her a new faucet. I got a Pegasus all brass faucet with ceramic bushings and washers. This thing is great. I think we can safely say that the house will fall down before this thing dies. She loved it.

On Sunday night we went to Christmas Eve service and then over to Dan and Ashley's (Britni's sister and brother in law). We had desert and then headed home. When we got home Britni and I made the dough for the cinnamon rolls and then went to bed. Monday morning we opened gifts and ate all of the food that was family tradition. I left to come back to Denver around 3:45 and arrived at my apartment around 12:15. I went straight to bed and fell asleep.

I woke up on Tuesday morning and wasn't feeling so well but I went to work anyway being the die hard that I am. We moved the office furniture around all day so that it was done before the office staff came back to work today. My car was completed by the time I left work so Jesse was my ride after I dropped off the 4Runner at Enterprise.

Car repairs are expensive dang it. The starter cost $400.00 and the CV axles cost $500.00. Ouch!! The car is doing much better now though.

I got home around 7:00 and took a hot bath and went to bed. I haven't slept that hard in a really long time. I woke up this morning feeling great and I went to work to get a lot of stuff done. I did get a lot of stuff done actually but the list is growing faster than I can check things off.

All that said, it is supposed to snow a bunch more tomorrow and Friday. Britni is supposed to land here in Denver at 10:30 on Saturday morning. I hope they don't close the airport again.

I think that's all for now. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that you are planning a great New Year.

_E_

Breakfast Rules!!

Stuart and I went to breakfast a Mimi's today. He and his family are on their way up to Breckenridge and they stayed in Denver last night. He and I went to breakfast to catch up. It was really good. Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. I love eggs and sausage and pancakes and orange juice and coffee and...... Anyway, it was nice to sit down and talk for a little while.

In other news, Britni will be here on Tuesday. She if flying in for the company Christmas party. It's going to be a fun one. It is at Harold and Judy's again this year. The bus will pick us up at my apartment and then go pick up a couple more people and then take us all out to their house. It's pretty far out there in Franktown. The best part is that Britni will be here.

I checked our wedding website today and it says we have 105 days left until the wedding. Yee-Haww! That means in 105 days I will be a married man. Britni's dress came in last week. She's really excited. Now we just have to find the perfect tuxes.

More Later

_E_

mmmmmm Steak

i decided to splurge a little bit tonight. I bought a steak and grilled it up. It's a boneless ribeye. I am not usually a fan of ribeyes but I saw this one and it had the most even marbling I have ever seen. I grilled it to a medium-rare. I seasoned it with "Vermont Country Seasoning". I am in heaven. Oh so good!!

_E_

again, with the cold

Today's high was 32 degrees. I know there are other places in the US that are much colder, but that is not the point. It is really cold for the Denver area. We have a low of 12 degrees tonight. Eeeek. That's cold enough to freeze shrimp in the ocean. Speaking of shrimp, I think I have a love affair with shrimp cocktail. There is something really satisfying about it. It is definitely one of my favorite foods.

The wedding plans are coming along. I talked with Aunt Bonnie a couple of days ago. She is a wedding floral designer. She is doing the flowers for our wedding. I asked her how much it was going to be and she said that it is our wedding present. That freakin' rocks. I can't believe it.

I was watching movie trailers tonight and I heard a song that I really like. I have heard it on the radio a million times but they never say who the artist is or the name of the song. I spent hours on i-Tunes trying to find it to no avail.

The next few weeks I think are going to fly by. There is a whole lot going on with Christmas parties, trips, and Christmas going on.

I heard Jimmy Eat World's Christmas EP and I really like their version of Last Christmas. I am listening to it right now. I love Christmas music. It has a certain drive to it even if it some of the slower stuff.

I need to go get a Christmas tree. There are a bunch of stands around but I have no way of getting it back to the apartment. I think I am going to ask Jesse if he will go with me and put it in his truck in exchange for dinner tomorrow night.

That's all for now.

_E_

One of Those Days

I had this great plan all laid out for what I was going to do today. Yeah right!!! I got to the office and it couldn't have been more than ten minutes later, Kevin says, "hey, the phones went dead." Arrrrgh! So I go look at the phone controller and sure enough, it's dead, completely and totally irreversibly dead. So I spent my well planned easily executed day doing nothing other than soliciting bids and meeting with salesmen to spend inordinate amounts of money to purchase and have a new phone system installed here at the office. It is currently 8:30pm and I am now leaving the office after an exhausting day of making executive decisions, signing contracts and spending tons of money while Harold and Judy are down in Dallas on business. I guess that well planned, easily executed day will have to wait yet another.

Oh yeah, we now have a killer new phone system in the office and I am the only one who knows how to use it.

_E_

It Snowed Again!

Except this time it is BUTT COLD!!! It started snowing last night around 5:00pm and it finally stopped snowing at 5:30pm tonight. It is currently 10 degrees outside and it is supposed to be ten below by tomorrow morning. EEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! Talk about freezing your fingers off. Oh well. I work inside for the most part. Work has been kinda strange lately. I haven't been able to get anything done on my to do lists. I have been in this meeting and that meeting and then another one. Next year is looking to be fairly full. We hit the ground running on January 12th. I don't see it letting up until sometime next fall. The week of July 4th is already completely booked up. I am getting married in 123 days. Woohooo! I can't wait. Not only will I be getting married but I will be taking my first vacation in a long long long time.

That's all for now.

_E_

Time and Traditions

I stayed in CO for Thanksgiving again this year. It's kinda funny how we all have traditions that create expectations. Then we move out from our parents houses and live on our own and start with nothing. Last year I went to Craig and Priscilla's house to celebrate Thanksgiving. It was fun. They have a few traditions that are very similar to what I grew up with. This year I went to Harold and Judy's house for Thanksgiving and it was a very different experience. It was fun but it wasn't the expectation I have developed over my years of life for a Thanksgiving celebration. All in all I had a good time. It just got a lot of thought started about traditions and holiday expectations.

In other news, long distance relationships are a pain in the butt. No, I am not saying they aren't worth it. I am just saying that it is tough. Everyday I wish I could see Britni when I get home from work. Everyday she wishes she could see me when she gets home from work. It is harder to talk things over because there are only words and nothing else. It is harder to get things done because we can't just get in the car and go look at tuxes. We have to do everything in baby steps. I am very task oriented. I like to get things done in the most efficient manner possible. This certainly isn't it. I am learning a lot about patience right now.

I think that is all that is on my mind right now. There might be more later but I have run dry.

_E_

I'm Here

I am here in Des Moines right now. I don't think I could live here. It is a weird sort of cold. I really like Denver's weather a whole lot. Anyway, it's time for my update.

Wedding:

Things are going pretty well. Men's Wearhouse is a pain because what is on the website is not what is available in the store. The caterer hasn't had time to make a contract up, so I got on their case and said I have to have it by next Monday. The limo is scheduled. We might be changing our mind about the first night hotel room, but it's not like we would tell anyone were it is anyway. Ha-ha. I am waiting a little bit on Honeymoon arrangements to let some pricing settle down on a couple of things. Being this far out the pricing is not set in stone and I have a problem saying I will spend money without knowing how much.

Work:

Interesting. The usual response. I am learning a lot. Mostly about people. I am somewhat frustrated with one situation right now but it will work itself out. We have a lighting staff that is capable and will finally. I am somewhat relieved about that.

We had a DOT consultant come in and look at our trucking to help us with all of the laws and record keeping. Next thing I know Jesse, Harold, and I are the only ones who are qualified to drive any of the trucks. Colorado has a crappy law that says that you must have a commercial drivers license to drive any vehicle that has a USDOT number on the side of it. Then they have this other crappy law that says you must have a USDOT number on the side of every vehicle that is owned by a company. Big time PITA!! So now everyone has to go get their CDL and if they are going to go get their CDL it might as well be at least a class B. There are some people who will never be allowed to even try for a class A. The thought of some people towing a 53' trailer worth millions is absolutely mind numbing.





Life:

In general it is going pretty well. I am starting to pay down some debt finally. I can't wait to have it all paid off. Our goal is to have all of our "dirty" debt paid off in a year and a half. I am so tired of paying interest on things I don't even remember. I know this might be the kettle calling the pot black but just a little word of advise to all of you who read this.

If you won't die without it you can do without it. If you can't pay cash, don't pay at all. There is no such thing as "good debt" there is such a thing as debt.

That is the end of my tirade for the day.

Later

_E_

She's Coming!!!!

Britni is coming to Denver for the company Christmas Party. I can't wait. That means we get to hang out and have some fun here in Denver. Wooo Hooo.

Later,

_E_

Once a Month

Britni and I made a goal of seeing each other at least once a month until the wedding. So far we have met that goal. We are 4 1/2 months away from the wedding and we are starting to hate the fact that it is only once a month. What do you do about it? We really can't do anything. It wouldn't make sense for her to move out here before the wedding because the wedding is in Des Moines, she lives at her Mom's house and cuts down on living expenses, she would have to find a new job out here and then take unpaid time off for our wedding and honeymoon. It wouldn't make sense for me to move out there because that is not where we want to live and I couldn't find another job like the one I have. Grrrr. Logistics, circumstances, and love should not be placed in the same situation.

I get to go see Britni next Thursday. I can't wait. December is going to be a tough month though. Neither of us has time off that coincides and she can't ask for time off because she works in retail and we all know what happens in retail around Christmas time. Hopefully she will be able to come out on her two days off and come to the company Christmas Party but that is a stretch. I am debating as to whether I should go to see Britni for Christmas since she only has Christmas Day off, or if I should go home to see my family which I have not seen in it's entirety since last Christmas. I have seen Dad and Karen for a decent amount of time. I saw Beth in the Dallas airport for two minutes and I haven't seen Mom at all since last Christmas.

Oh well, I guess I have plenty to contemplate.

I updated the look of my Blog a little bit. I am working on getting a photo album posted so be looking for that.

Later,

_E_

(in) Sanity

Wow!! Last week was a doozy. Everything was laid out just right and all five of the shows were covered. The plan was coming together very nicely. Then it happened. On Monday at 10:00 am we received a call from the White House Advance team. They needed us in Elko, Nevada. The show was on Thursday. Yes this past thursday. Talk about short notice. Next thing I know I have found a driver to take the gear to Elko and I am loading his truck until 2:00am. I then caught a plane to Elko on Tuesday morning. Wednesday we loaded in all day. Thursday was the show and load out. Friday I flew back to Denver and prepped for my weekend show. Saturday I loaded in for Allied Jewish. Sunday I did the Allied Jewish show and loaded it out.

I am now deciding which way is up and starting to swim there. I think the light above me is a good sign that that way it up.

On a lighter note, I am going to see Britni next thursday November 17th. I can't wait. We still have a few details to nail down with the wedding. I am sure there will always be something to nail down until it is over. The to do list is definitely getting shorter though. We have three contracts to sign and some pre-marital counseling to do while I am there. It's not too bad.

That's all for now.

_E_

Winter, Snow, and the Beauty of it All

It has now snowed in Denver twice this October. I love snow. I can't beleive how much we have already had. The first snow storm was pretty cool. It was short but dumped enough snow to cover everything. It was probably about 8" of snow. The crazy part was the fact that it was 70 degrees the very next day and the snow was gone.

This last storm was much bigger. We had about 18" dumped in 24 hours here at my apartment. Colorado Springs got about 26" in 24 hours. It shut down both I-25 and I-70 for a whole day. I love snow.

Work has been interesting lately or should I say still. When it rains it pours and when it's dry it's bone dry. We have had all of our shows land at the same time and then nothing for two weeks and then a massive load of shows all on top of each other again. This next week we have three shows for the White House and two shows for local clients. None of them are small by any stretch of the imagination. The smallest show takes two 24' box trucks. The biggest show looks like it will take three full semi's. It's gonna be fun.

It looks like I am going to be going to Aruba in January. That should be fun. I will be in Las Vegas for two weeks in March as well. That one is going to be crazy. I don't know the full scope yet but I know we will be taking the whole company out there. I get married a week and a half after I get back from that one.

Speaking of getting married, I can't wait. 157 days as of today. The registries are almost done. The cake is ordered. We have decided on the tuxes. We are waiting on the caterer to get us a contract. The Honeymoon is planned. I think everything is going pretty well.

That's all I have for now. Did I mention that I love snow!!!

_E_

More to Come

Last weekend I went out to Iowa to see Britni again. This once a month thing is killing me. I wish we were living in the same city so we could see each other any time we wanted to. Heck, I wish we were married already.

We got a fair bit of wedding planning done. The major highlight of the weekend was Helzberg's Diamonds. Yes, we finally got her ring. It's pretty cool looking. I like it. We also went ahead a bought both wedding bands. It was actually pretty fun.

We have settled on a caterer. We picked out the invitations. There are entirely too many details to a wedding. I can't wait for April 1.

Work has been interesting. I had to dismiss one of the people in the lighting department on Monday. Then the other two people in the department walked out. I have a new lighting designer starting on Monday October 2nd. I have a week of brief reprieve and then we go in to hell week. We have a national cable awards, Denver Public Library Booklovers Ball, National Mariachi Festival, and a Gubenatorial debate in the course of four days. All of them are large shows. This should prove to be interesting.

Well, it is time to get a shower and get ready for church.

Later.

-E-

Long Distance Blues

Right now I am system teching for a Blues Traveler show. I am bored out of my mind because our gear almost never has a problem. I set it up at 8:00 this morning and have been pretty much sitting around ever since. It is kind of nice though. It has allowed me to get a ton of work done and to do some "enjoyable" thinking on top of the stuff I am required to process every day. I get a big break next weekend. I am going to see Britni in Iowa. I am flying and that is a beautiful thing. I get four days off in a row. I will get some R&R and some time with my bride to be. There has been a lot going on at work lately but I don't really feel like talking about that right now. I am doing pretty well. I have not had time to do laundry in two weeks now. I need to do some real soon or I am going to have to recycle some clothes. It is loud as crap in here and I am really glad I have ear plugs.

Thats all for now.

-E-

What is it about.....

Life is just flying by. I hate that. There is something to be said for taking a deep breath and enjoying life in the moment. I feel like I am going so fast right now that I can't even see what's going on. I am working like mad dealing with this situation and putting out that fire, and preventing this mess, and taking care of that client. I get a vacation in 6 1/2 months. I am going on my honeymoon and I can't wait. The trouble is that I have no idea where we are going to go. If anyone has any ideas please share.

We need to hire more people, and we need to get those people trained, all the while doing shows to the level of excellence that we all remember they should be. I don't know what went wrong but something did and I am done with chasing my tail. I have decided that every show that I do will be perfect. Period. I don't care what it takes because in the long run there will be a whole lot less stress if the show is done right.

I have to go load out a show so I will post more later.

-E-

Cars....Grrrrh

What is it with cars. There is one cliche that sums them up.

A necessary evil.

I took the Maxima in to get the brakes inspected and worked on. I knew it was going to cost some money but $275.00, DANG. While they were inspecting the brakes they saw that the CV boot on both sides was gone. I don't just mean cracked or leaking, I mean g-o-n-e gone. Well, I am going to have to wait two weeks to get that fixed because that is another $500.00 or so. Sometimes I think about not having a car and then I think for a couple more seconds and realize just how much I enjoy having a car.

I can drive anywhere I want to whenever I want to. I don't have to rely on public transportation schedules. I don't have to wait for someone to give me a ride. Cars are very valuable. I have grown accustomed to having a reliable car. It's nice. I also have a car that is comfortable. That's nice too. So where do you draw the line between comfort/features and need? This brings up another question. Where do we draw the line in life between wants and needs. I want a motorcycle. I most certainly don't need one. I want a Cannon 30D camera. I definitely don't need one. I need toilet paper. I most definitely hate spending money on toilet paper. What is it about us that makes this happen. We often want the things we don't need but we don't want the things we do need.

I think it has to do with the fact that we think the grass is always greener on the other side. Contentment is something I have been working on lately. I have been doing pretty well. I am starting to wonder though, where is the line between being content and being complacent? Is there one? Have I crossed it?

Thoughts... Anyone?

-E-

Goin' to the Chapel

Some of you already know this but I figured I should just blurt it out.

Britni and I are engaged. We are planning our wedding for April 1, 2007.

I can't wait. I am staying in Denver and she will be moving to Denver after the wedding. The wedding will be in Des Moines, IA which is where Britni is from.

It took seven years for us to finally realize that we should spend the rest of our lives together. I couldn't be any more lucky than to have my best friend say yes to marrying me. We hope to get some engagement photos within a month but it is kind of tough living 647 miles apart when you need to get things done together. Oh well. I guess it will make us communicate even better.

Pictures

So I was talking to Sheila West today and she said I needed to put up some pictures of Britni.

Here they are:

Vacation - The Great Dichotomy

Have you ever gone on vacation and wondered if you really went when you got back? I just did. I went to see my girlfriend (Yes, I, Eric Roa actually have a girlfriend now, more on that later) in Des Moines, Iowa. It was great. We got to relax and hang out and go out to a nice dinner. The typical stuff a vacation is made of. I left on Saturday July, 22 and returned on Wednesday July, 26. Not the longest vacation ever but one none the less. I received 17 phone calls on my cell phone while I was gone. Most of which were questions which could have been answered by other people. When I got back to my office the shop was a train wreck and I had 123 e-mails. arrrgh. It felt like I had never even gone on vacation by the end of my first day back in the office. Oh well. I guess that is the life of a manager.

So, about my girlfriend. Her name is Britni Nation. We have known each other for 7 years. We went to college together and have been very good friends ever since we first met. She came out to Denver to visit me back in January. We had a good time and we started talking more and more frequently. About a six weeks ago I asked her if she wanted to turn our friendship into a dating relationship. She said yes. We have been talking non-stop since then. There is a lot going on. I will post more as I can.

_E_

High Speeds and Brick Walls

There are days, weeks, even months where I feel like life is going entirely too fast. I feel like I am headed straight for a brick wall all because I can't slow things down on my own. Life has been like that for a couple of months now.

I started out at Richter Scale Productions on June 1, 2005 as an audio tech. Here I am one year and five weeks later as the director of operations. I went from the bottom of the totem pole to pretty darn near the top in a little over one year. I know it sounds like bragging but it is more like admitting I am completely overwhelmed and don't know which way is up right now. The course of events and how I got to where I am is quite strange really. Mike (the director of staging and transportation) left on his own accord. He said he was burned out on production work and was ready to move on. Fair enough. A week later I was promoted to be the director of staging and transportation. Great, I can handle this. Then the real stuff started happening. I was finding things out about the way Rick (formerly my boss and now my colleague in management) worked and things he had done that were not in the best interest of the company or the team. I called him on it. The more I called him on it the more he shrank back in to his shell and did nothing. He was afraid of making a mistake and would not listen to correction. The biggest key to not making mistakes is to admit that you made one and learn from it. The biggest mistake in the workplace is to think that nobody makes mistakes. Take it from me, it happens. As a result of Rick's turtle shelling and lack of managerial drive, he was fired about two weeks after Mike left and I was promoted. The day that Rick was fired I was promoted to the position of Director of Operations.

I have eight people working under me. All of which have been at Richter Scale for seven months or less. Half of them have been here for less than four months. There is a lot of training and learning that needs to happen. Both for myself and for the eight people under me. We all need to learn how to work better together instead of all of us trying to attack projects in our own little world. I need to learn to work more efficiently. I am spending entirely to much time behind the 8 ball and I hate it. I am used to having all of my ducks in a row long before we start shooting at them. arrgh.

We have two new sales people who are really good at selling. That is a good thing, almost. They are selling so fast that I can not keep up. I feel like there is just way to much going on in any given day to even make an attempt at reducing the list of things that absolutely need to get done. I have almost reached the point of just doing the things that are sink or swim and dealing with improvements and non imperatives later. That really really SUCKS.

The worst part about it is that Harold and Judy are on vacation for the next week and I am leaving on vacation on Saturday. I get back on Wednesday night and I don't know how many things I am going to have to deal with. I am hoping that some of the guys step up and get a crash course on operations just like I have been so that they can start handling some of these things on their own.

That is life for now.

Holly Monkeys

Wow, it has been almost two months since my last post. That is entirely unacceptable. I have been working my tail off. Things at Richter Scale have turned right side up. I am now the Director of Operations. The bad apples have been culled out of the company and we are starting to rebuild our team. I am leading the team as the director and it is a large task. I have to train at least seven people and get them all operating at the level of expectations that we have here at RSP. Things are going well so far but every time we turn around we find something else that has to be addressed. I am glad that we have people who want to be a part of the team now though. It really sucks when you have to work with people who want nothing but a paycheck and their own egos inflated. Oh well. Things are better now but we have a long way to go. Keep on truckin'.

I know this was breif and I promise to post more soon.

Definitions ..... By Popular Demand

I was reminded by Sheila that my industry has a language all to it own. Here are some translations/definitions to help you folks out as you read my blog.

FOH = Front of House - This is where the FOH engineer mixes the show from, the LD (see definition) controls the lights and the spotlights are.

MON = Monitors - This is where the MON engineer mixes what the bands are hearing in their individual wedges(see definition)

LD = Lighting Designer - This guy decides what the lights look like and when.

Wedges = Speakers that each artist uses so that he can hear himself and other people in the band.

Backline = Instruments - This could be guitars, drums, keyboards, amps, harps......

Truss = Aluminum Structural Element - Truss can be either one piece or many pieces put together. It is usually used to put hang lights from.

PRT = Pre Rigged Truss - A truss element that has the lights built in to it. Also known as Single Hung or Double Hung.

Array = The main speaker hang.

Subs = The speakers that put out the low frequencies (we have all heard the ghetto cars that rattle as they go down the road. Imagine an entire 35,000 seat building doing that)

Load In = The process of setting up a show. We are loading all of the equipment in to the venue

Load Out = The process of taking a show down. We are loading all of the equipment out of the venue.

Snake = A large cable consisting of hundreds of conductors through which the signal for all of the audio channels passes. Think of this as a bunch of microphone cables put together.

Loom = Multiple cables made in to one assembly. We use cable looms to connect multiple speakers.

Console = The audio mixing console

Rigging = This stuff that holds all of the equipment in the air.

Chain Motors = A sort of crane. Usually consisting of a single piece of chain of predetermined length with a hook on one end and an electric motor which climbs that chain with a hook on the bottom side for attaching a load.

Feeder = Single conductor cable that is about 1.5" in diameter (really, really, really heavy) There are usually 5 of these loomed together so that you have 1 Ground, 1 Nuetral, and Three Hots so that you end up with three phase power.

Socapex = a 19 conductor cable which carries power for six different circuits for lights.

Conventional Lights = A simple enclosure with a lightbulb, and lens.

Intelligent Lights = Lights that move and change colors and patterns on command.

Dimmer = A large (also read heavy here) rack which controls the intensity of the conventional lights.

Lighting Console = A control surface that tells the dimmers and intelligent lights what to do.

Three Phase Power = Don't make me explain this. If you don't understand it you probably don't need to. Just know that this is more power than your house needs and you should never play with electricity.

If you have any questions about anything that I talk about feel free to leave a comment and I will try to explain it as best I can.

ER

Some Pics

I picked up my pictures the other day from being developed. Here are a few of them.

The opener for Kanye West - Black Violins. It's kinda blurry but I was 110' away.















A view of the stage for Kanye West before Lights out.















Kanye West in Full Swing. Makin' my eyeballs jiggle with the subs.
















The opening act for Doobie Brothers. There were a whole lot more people for Doobie Brothers than for the opening acts.

Hip Hop and Classic Rock

Yes, the water debacle was cleared up. They screwed up, they fixed it and sent me a letter of apology. I think I might frame it.

This past week was a rather full one. On Wednesday we left the shop with two 53' tractor trailers loaded with gear for Kanye West. It was a decent show. We loaded in on Thursday morning. The show started at 7:00 with a group called "Black Violins" I mixed FOH for them and it was pretty good. Kanye took the stage at 8:15. I mixed the majority of the show because his FOH engineer liked what I was doing and needed to take care of some stuff for the next show. The show itself was rather boring but the whole production went pretty well. I will post some pictures in a while. I also have a time lapse of load in that I am hoping to post soon. I am still on the film thing so I have to get it developed.

On Friday we drove up to Colorado Springs and checked in to the Antlers Hilton. Mike went all the way back up to Denver to get the SL320. We met up at the hotel that night and went to dinner. Load in started at 5:30am on Saturday. The Doobie Brothers were pretty easy to take care of. They brought their own FOH and MON consoles and just tied in to our system. There were three opening acts, none of which were all that spectacular. They were all bands who had placed in the top three of the battle of the bands at the college. We started load out at 10:30 that night and I got to leave by 12:45. It was kind of nice. I was the only one who had been there all stinkin day so I got to leave before load out was done.

My Dad showed up in Colorado Springs around 5:00 that evening. He stayed around and watched the show. That night we stayed at the hotel in the springs and left on Sunday around noon to come back to Denver. The drive was pretty easy but man was I tired.

That is the rest of my life for now. Dad left today to go back to Williamsburg, VA. It was good to see him.

Gotta Go

Grrrrrrrrrrr

So I paid my water bill the usual way. By an automated phone system. I open my apartment door this afternoon, I had the day off, and there is a note on my door, "pay your water bill or vacate your apartment." So I check my bank account and sure enough, there sits the charge from the water company. So I call the water company. They have not received any payment. I am waiting for a call back. I hate it when it becomes my fault that a large corporation screws up and looses my payment. I am going to be really mean really soon if I don't get some anwers.

E

Wow!

The last three weeks have been a complete blur. I have worked each weekend on the same show up in Copper Mountain, Colorado. It is a festival series for the Copper Mountain Resorts. It has been pretty fun. There were some stressful times but everything went pretty well all things considered. Here are a couple of pictures to give you an idea of what it was like.

The light...I see the light

So the last post was pretty bleak. Things are much better now. The show from hell is over and I have finally gotten it out of my system. Tomorrow I am loading in a bunch of gear for a real estate auction. We are putting up lighting, video and distributed sound for this really cool dinner/auction thing. There are four pieces of truss standing upright in the main room with 4 42" plasma screens on each truss. Each plasma screen has a different video feed from a live bidding software package so that people can see the properties as they update. There are some moving lights and colors as well to help with the atmosphere.

Next Friday I leave to go up to copper mountain and do a festival with Better Than Ezra headlining. There are a total of four bands playing each day (Saturday and Sunday). It should be interesting. We are setting up the SL250 (the smaller of our hydraulic mobile stages, if you want to find out more about them check this out stageline.com) on the snowpack at the bottom of the main lift. There is a complete sound, monitors, lighting, and backline package for the whole deal. I am the backline tech/monitor engineer for this one. We have five weekends of this starting on April 1.

Things are really starting to heat up as far as shows go. We don't have one weekend between now and the end of august that does not have a show. A bunch of shows are out of state which is cool.

That's all I have for now. Nothing profound.....

Who in their right mind.....

I haven't posted in a while again. I guess I just forgot to. I dunno.

Yesterday was possibly the worst day of my career. I am working on a local show which will remain nameless. Don't get me wrong, these people are doing a good thing. It's just that they have no idea how to do it. This show is a showcase for underprivileged, mentally challenged, or physically challenged people. It has the potential for being really cool. I don't know if it will quite make it to endurable status though.

I showed up yesterday to load in and the set had not been completed. The lighting had just been started and the script I had been given told me nothing. The director of this production is an individual who thinks he is always right and nothing should take any time to accomplish. He is impatient and wants everything his way right now. When I ask for information all I get is "you should have figured that out from the script." This "script" that he keeps referring to is merely a list of songs with the description of the set and a list of characters performing each song. I haven't met any of these people let alone recognize their faces. (By the way, there are 76 of them) So I have to manage 28 channels of body mics, 16 channels of band, 5 channels of handheld wireless, and 9 hanging/area mics. Ok, I can do that... If I know what's going on.

So I asked for a list of the characters who will be miced, what songs they are in and what number mic they will be wearing. What I got was, another copy of the same script. A list of cast names(not character names) with the corresponding mic number, and a list of songs without the descriptions.

This helped me all of none. I finally went to the stage manager and asked her for what I needed. Her response was "The director said that you already had that." So I showed her what I had been given and she said "That is definitely useless." She gave me the information that I needed today and I programmed the console. Things ran much smoother but it is still a minor cluster. I have to make 14 of those wireless body mics sound good on 7 different people who all sing differently, have different costuming and therefore mic positions, and who all have different positions on stage.

Oh, did I mention that the stage is about 32' wide and 24' deep and the room only seats about 350 people. Why don't they just tell everyone to speak up? Oh yeah, there is a hideously loud and horrible band playing the music for all of the songs.

That is my rant for the month. I promise, all of the posts hereafter in the month of March will be more positive than this one. Besides, when you are at the worst of it things can only get better.

Later, E

It's been a while

I think this is the longest I have gone so far without posting. Two weeks goes by so fast. Things are going pretty well. Work is getting busier and busier. We have five decent sized shows this week. I will be up in Greeley, CO on Saturday. Next weekend I get to go to Vail for a show and stay in a really nice condo from Thursday till Sunday. The only part that stinks is that I will have to drive a semi over the passes to get there and it is supposed to snow all weekend.

I haven't been skiing in a while. I am going to try to go next week sometime. I will definitely go while I am in Vail. I get to ski for free while I am there. That rocks!

My to do list keeps growing and it seems like there is less time to do stuff every day. I can't wait till the list starts to shrink. We are hiring some more people which will help out with the whole to do list shrinking.

I have become the resident backline tech for Richter Scale. It's kind of fun. I am learning a lot about all kinds of instruments. We have everything someone could want for just about any type of band.

The car will be half paid off as of the first of March. That will be a great feeling. I can't wait till the end of May when it will be completely paid for.

Here is a picture from the show I did this past weekend. It was at Invesco Field (Mile High Stadium).



Later.

The Weekend

So, work is as usual. Only there are no shows this weekend. Kinda weird. I think I will do laundry, clean the apartment and read.

That's all for now.

The Best Laid Plans

This past week was nuts. Sunday, I went to church. Monday I went to work. Tuesday I went to work and then went and picked Britni up from the airport. Wednesday, Britni and I went all over Denver. We picked up her rental skiis, she bought a skirt, had lunch, went out to Red Rocks, and Barnes and Noble. We met up with Carisa at 7:45 and hung out till midnight. On Thursday we got up really early (5:30) and left for Keystone. We picked up Rudy around 6:45. We made it up to Keystone at 9:00. It had been snowing all day long. Driving a Nissan Maxima in the snow, in the mountains, in Colorado, during a winter advisory, is not advised. We skied all day, until one fateful run. I had stopped and Britni was about to stop when she fell over backwards and consequently tore her LCL and sprained her ankle. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the clinic. We left Keystone around 3:45 and made it back to Rudy's house by 6:00. Britni and I made it back to my apartment just in time for the roast beef that I had put in the crock pot to be done. I made the rest of the parts of dinner and we ate. I finally fell asleep that night around midnight. On Friday morning I had to be at work at 6:00 so I woke up at 4:30. I got about half an hour for lunch and worked straight through 3:00 the next 9:30 on Saturday so I woke up at 8:00. I worked all day through 11:00 that night. I fell asleep around 1:00 that night and had to wake up at 4:15 to take Britni to the airport. Needless to say I slept all day Sunday.

I had planned to have a nice relaxing time hanging out with friends and skiing but that only went so far as Thursday. As the saying goes, "The best laid plans of mice and men...." I don't remember the rest but we all know what it means.

Later.

So here we go.....

I am really enjoying my new position at work. It's fun to brainstorm and come up with solutions. We have several shows this week, and even more next week. Things are already taking off for the new year. We have two new people working for us in the production department. I can't believe how much we are getting done.

I went to Apple's web site today and saw that they released the intel chips for the MacBook and the i-Mac. Wow! They have pulled off quite the feat. I think it's really cool. The features that are going to be made available through it are incredible. I think I will have to re-spec my dream laptop on my wishlist.

I am hungry so I think I am going to go home and get some dinner.

Denver....

Well, I'm back. This sounds really weird but I actually missed Denver while I was gone for a whopping 7 days. Pretty pathetic isn't it.

Work is going really well. I am moving up into a management position as of today. I am in charge of all internal projects. This includes maintenance, manufacture, prep..... and all the other stuff that happens with gear before it leaves to go do a show. I am looking forward to my new role. I will still be doing shows but it won't be as rough as it has been. We are hiring a bunch more people which is awesome. I am going to be on salary which definitely has its benefits. I don't think I will have to work the absolutely insane hours that I have worked for the past six months. Though I do think I will miss working that much. I don't know why but that has always been fun for me.

I went with Aaron (the youth pastor at my church) up to Boulder for a new years party. It was kind of fun hanging out with a bunch of people I had never met before.

I have rediscovered the amazing invention called Legos. These things rock. I pulled my legos out of my storage unit the other day and I started playing around with them yesterday. It is amazing how many things you can make out of Legos.

My goal for this year is to eat out only twice a month and only go to the theater once a month. I am going to see how much money I can save by cutting down on unnecessary expenses. We will see how it goes.

I hate New Years Resolutions. You may have noticed that I said "my goal for this year" and not "My New Years Resolution". The concept of a resolution just seems completely unattainable for me. It sounds like do or die. I prefer to have a goal to reach rather than something a prohibitive as a Resolution.

That is my rant for the day.

Later.......