Update from NYC

Am I the last person to get a facebook profile? I finally signed up and within a day I reconnected with about 20 people I haven't talked to in forever, including someone I dated 20 years ago. Anyway, if you know enough about me to look up my facebook profile, feel free to ad me as a friend.

I finished my N.C. gig and came back to New York in time to head to the Poconos for a huge family reunion that was great fun. Then back to NYC. My Missouri gig cancelled on me for August, but I have been invited down to Georgia for a tryout gig next week. I'm excited. I am up to 92 songs memorized, including 7 call-downs, some of which I wrote. The NC job did a lot to increase my confidence and I have gotten several very supportive allies in the past few months. I have officially promoted myself from trainee to newbie. Woohoo!!

My apartment building that I currently rent from just gave me a renewal offer that is 20% above my current rent. I responded with a counter-offer that will likely be denied (a 1% increase), and so I will have to rethink my living situation for an October move. I am really not sure what to do. I expect that I will be out on the road a lot this year, or perhaps even relocating somewhere for 6-12 months although I don't know where yet.

Sgt Jess

Tonight I drank with the 82nd Airborne. Apparently they are the most rapid deployed troops this country has. They can mobilize in 2 hours and be on a plane headed, well, anywhere. We drank shots of Jager to 2 dead men I never met. The toast was for the men, but after toast we tapped our glasses on the bar before putting them to our lips. That was so that Haji could hear it down in hell. Haji is the name of the enemy in Iraq, like Charlie or gook was in Vietnam. Sergant 1st Class Jess of the 82nd Airborne showed me his scar from an injury that kept him down for 9 months. It wasn’t pretty. He still feels bad that because of that he was unable to “return to the wire” to stand alongside his unit. After 9 months he is now fully recovered. His next deployment is Afganistan.

Update from an airport in NC

Well I have finished the first MO tour and am now stuck in an airport in NC, waiting for my connecting flight to Nowheresville, NC (2 hours late and counting) where I will spend two weekends at a Dueling bar. I have 3 days off where I will meet my friend R in Raleigh, where I've never been but have heard it's a fun and vibrant city from my brother who at one time was considering living there. I have been asked back to Missouri for the month of August which will give me two weeks off in July to spend with my people and my things in NYC. After I finish the MO gig in August I am booked back here in NC for the month of September. Then I need to figure out my living situation back in NYC since my current lease is up in Oct. This past year I've lived with my best friend in NYC, but I suspect that next year I will be on the road more than I will be home so I'm not sure I want to commit to a full year of NYC rent. Meanwhile, I will try to re-rent out my own apartment when my tenant's lease is up in January as I like that money coming in.