Disappointment

Having never been turned down for a job in my life, I figured I was just about due. This morning, I called the man in charge of hiring for my even-dreamier-than-my-current-dream-job job (mostly because I was impatient), and they have a candidate on a visit to the institution and they have offered him the job. I can't imagine that he won't take it (or that I would be next in line if he were to turn it down), so I think this is my first rejection (ignoring of course a litany of turn-downs from girls).

I am, of course, disappointed but resolved to be content with what I have many times declared to be a dream job - I get to teach fun classes, coach a sport I love, and influence young men and women in the most important aspects of their lives. I pretty much knew this was coming, and I can't say that I hadn't daydreamed that I would be the successful candidate for this, but here I am, nonetheless.

Thanks to all of you for your encouragement and support.

Hitchhiking on the Information Superhighway

If your neighbor plays his stereo so loudly that it penetrates your walls, no one accuses you of stealing if you listen to what he's playing, do they?

Getting internet of any speed at home costs money, unless you have a neighbor whose internet stereo penetrates your walls. My infrequent posting on this site since summer started is a direct result of not having consistent access to the internet (like I do at work). I occasionally can access the internet if I'm sitting with my laptop in the front door. The computer has to be at just the right angle, but when it is -- bingo! I'm connected!

What I'd like to do is talk to my neighbors whose signals I get at much higher levels (but which are password protected) and suggest that we share the cost together. $40 a month for high-speed is ridiculous, but $10 a month might be alright (think yearly: $480 or $120). $480 is a lot of dough to spend on something that ought to be free.

Anyway, I'm cheap (and poor), so I'll continue to have intermittent postings because not everyone will pick up a hitchhiker.

The Power Trio

Last night, I finally realized one of my childhood dreams: I saw The Police in concert.

Amazingly, they hadn't broken up already on the tour (a legitimate concern considering their vitriolic history), and it even seemed like they were having a good time together on stage.

The opening act was pretty good (the lead singer was Sting's son Joe's band, Fictionplane), and from our seats (the very last row in the highest level of the Pepsi Center), I could see Sting standing off-stage watching the show.

As for the main event, it was amazing. They changed some of the songs enough that it wasn't like they were playing straight off the albums but they didn't change them so much that they ruined my favorite songs, if you know what I mean. It was as if they were really working together creatively again.

There were big screen TV's up above the stage and at least 6 cameras working the show (perhaps for a concert DVD), and when they scanned the audience, I realized how old the average fan was: there was a man with a hawaiian shirt and a full grey beard singing "De do do do, De da da da" and I just laughed. I'm 30, but I was barely alive when the band first formed, and I wasn't even in grade school when the actually (though not officially) broke up. Sting is 55, Stewart is almost 55, but "the legendary Andy Summers" (Sting's words) is 65. But what a show. They played like they were still in their prime (with a little less jumping off of amplifiers, etc.)

It was definitely worth the price of admission (at least for the cheap seats), and I'm glad I got to go before they broke up again.