Firsts

2010-12-11 21:48:46.000 – Mike Finnegan,  IT Observer

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This week has been filled with a number of firsts, however disjointed they may be. Erica brewed espresso cold at home and brought it to the mountain for the week. It has been staring at me in the fridge for the week, but not being a huge coffee drinker (or even coffees of regular size), I’ve let it be. Mentioning I was thirsty, she suggested she make me a cold brew latte. I thought this a good idea, but wondered what it was. Some cold brew, a few ice cubes, and a bit of milk later and I was drinking my first one.

The other night I had another first as I was searching through my duffel bag side pocket. I was searching for sunglasses, which I found, but also came upon dental floss. Now, I am a huge fan of teeth brushing. Sometimes I will even brush my teeth on the couch. Well, I will sit on the couch while I brush my teeth with a toothbrush. I don’t actually brush them on the couch. It’s just that the couch is much more comfortable than standing and results in a good, thorough cleaning. Having found the floss though, I figured I would try it out. It wasn’t nearly as scary as I though it would be. Now I just have to keep it up – do one thing right, one time, then do it again.

Since I seem to be working myself backwards through time, I will continue with that trend, bringing us to Thursday. At the time, I didn’t know the following had occurred. I actually just found out about it a couple hours ago, but it is just wonderful news. My very good friend, Tim, set foot back in Vermont for the first time since January. He has been stationed over in Afghanistan since that time with the Vermont National Guard, helping to keep his friends and fellow Guardsmen safe so they can return home to their friends and family. I will be so happy to see him during my next offweek, but will also remember those who did not return to see their families and those who cannot hug their ‘Tim’.

The final first, which is actually the first first temporally, deals with music. I ended up buying the new Gaelic Storm album last offweek and was listening to it during my drives to and from places. One of the fiddle riffs struck me in such a way as to lend itself to a reggae backbeat. I played this, then played a riff similar to the fiddle I had heard. I could hear it in my head, but couldn’t play them together on one harmonica at the same time, so I had to wait until I got up here on Wednesday to record them and put them together. I did this, and although the method was rather crude, it did work. This was the first time I had looped and layered music together into one track and was quite pleased with the results. And now onto the wonders of loop stations…

Mike Finnegan,  IT Observer