u/putridstenchreality

I have an opportunity to audition for someone who has played with some heavy hitters, been signed, and toured Europe. I'm a little intimidated.

My worry is that I don't currently have a pro level drum set, just a Frankenkit. I've toured inside the US and recorded and know what to expect there.

I have three songs to nail this and I'm trying to tell myself that I've got the chops. I practice daily with a metronome. I can solo on the kit and play the pocket.

My wife said to go for it. My old bandmates said to go for it. I pulled the Fool card when I read tarot, which is associated with taking a chance and new beginnings.

The worst that can happen is that I remain a home studio artist like I am now.'

How would you approach this audition

This is my 25th year teaching except for the year I worked for NM CYFD's Office of Children's Rights (I hated being a bureaucrat fr) and I have 4 years to go until I can retire unless they screw me out of social security, in which case I'm working till I'm dead, I guess.

I've taught 3rd grade (the kids ate my lunch, literally and figuratively). Too much crying and mucus.

I've taught in jail. We held graduations on the pods and the inmates would watch from their cells on the tiers. When we handed the students their diplomas, the inmates would drum on the plexiglass windows of their cells and cheer for the graduates. It beat the hell out of regular high school graduations in football stadiums and auditoriums.

I did emotionally disturbed/behavior disorder for a long time. The toughest teaching assignment in my opinion. And 95% of the time my classroom was an oasis of calm in a sea of adolescent angst und sturm. The other 5% of the time was ...challenging. And *all those kids graduated.

Two years in life skills special ed with autistic and intellectually disabled kids. Nothing like a bunch of nonverbal kids coming down with stomach flu right after lunch, bro. Luckily I have puke radar and caught it every time.

This year I'm co-teaching math with two got-their-act-together teachers and I have reading intervention in the afternoon.

I requested 12 acoustic guitars so I can teach a little music after school and we'll see if that happens. Fingers crossed.

I hope there are some good rumors about me this year. So far I've been a meth cook, sniper, defrocked priest, spy, ex-cop, hitman for the mob, Satanist, and former "rock star" (lol).

I'm going to host some sort of celebration at the end of the year but I'm still thinking about how I want that to look.

If you're new to this, best of luck. Best wishes to veterans and mid-career folks, too.

I occasionally starch a dress shirt when I want to look extra put together. I have some 100% cotton oxfords that I would like to last a minimum of until I retire in 4 years but I don't know if starching shirts will help them last longer or if I should just spritz with water when I iron. Does starch build up in the cloth with regular laundering (for better or for worse)? Is there an alternative to the spray starch like Niagra that anyone wants to recommend?

What is your one non-frugal expenditure and how do justify it to yourself?

For me, it's Tide pods. My observation is that they do a superior job of cleaning to the extent that the cost is justified.

At one point, I was making the borax/fels naptha/washing soda mixture but it gave me a rash so I quit making it. My experience was that it was ineffective in my HE washer, left residue.

At another point when the kids were growing up, I was doubling coupons and getting a lot of liquid detergent that way. Some were inferior, like Sun, and some worked fine, like Gain. So I've tried a variety of liquids as well.

So that is my one non-frugal expenditure, and I believe it's worth it. Wondering what other people spend money on that might not be the most frugal choice.

after the heat this afternoon.

1 point for a dispensary

1 point for a carwash

1 point for a massage parlor

1 point for a mattress store

3 points for a strip mall containing both a dispensary and a massage parlor.

*trifectas-- we're still working out the trifectas. a trifecta is worth 5 points and currently is made up of a strip mall containing a massage parlor and dispensary AND one of the following:

store front church (Holy trifecta)

pizza or other food (hungry trifecta)

a smog inspection station (dirty trifecta)

an AA meeting place (sober trifecta).

are there more dispensaries or are there more skeezy massage places? I'm losing count of both.