O'Bunny's Hutch

You probably already know about Heidi's and my problems with scented products. I discovered on my last trip to Lee Valley tools here in Ottawa that there had been scented products installed in the store.

I emailed Robin Lee about this, and well, the story is below...

>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: David O'Heare 
>> Sent: Wednesday, February 21, 2007 12:33 PM
>> To: Lee, Robin
>> Subject: A gripe
>>
>> Hi Rob.
>>
>> I was in your Ottawa store a couple of days ago, and noticed a new
>> addition to the order desks, an addition that causes me physical pain.
>>
>> I'm talking about the Purell dispensers.
>>
>> It doesn't matter whether the stuff works or not; that's not the issue.
>> The heavy fragrance that they add to the sanitizer causes me blinding
>> headaches. 
>> My wife's reaction is different -- she gets stupid, and clumsy, and
>> then has diarrhea. A large percentage of our friends (more than half) report
>> similar problems.
>>
>> There are unscented hand sanitizers out there, Rob. If there's a need
>> for a hand sanitizer in your store, please use an unscented variety. (Though
>> I personally don't think that little pencils and public keyboards are
>> dangerous disease vectors :-)
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Dave O'Heare
>>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Lee, Robin" 
> To: "David O'Heare" 
> Sent: Wednesday, February 21, 2007 12:44 PM
> Subject: RE: A gripe
> 
> 
>> Hi Dave -
>>
>> I'll pass that one on - I can't stand scented stuff either... I hadn't
>> seen that change yet!
>>
>> Cheers -
>>
>> Rob
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
> From: David O'Heare  
> Sent: Wednesday, February 21, 2007 5:38 PM
> To: Lee, Robin
> Subject: Re: A gripe
> 
> Rob:
> 
> Thanks very much.  We really appreciate it.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Dave O'Heare
> 

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Lee, Robin" 
To: "David O'Heare" 
Sent: Friday, February 23, 2007 10:07 AM
Subject: RE: A gripe

 Hi David - 
 
 Purell is toast.... :)
 
 Cheers - 
 
 Rob

So, polite but definite complaints can have the desired effect.

If you were wondering, I have corresponded with Robin in the past. He's a very smart guy, and he's driven.

Mostly I carried things, and made sure that some folks got fed and that other folks got where they were supposed to, and didn't panic. I did play one piece with Heidi. In comparison, she dealt with a lot of the music, played a number of different instruments, sang, made biscuits, made lists, and didn't swear at the people who were being difficult. Well, person. Hardly at all.

In all it went well. I was pleasantly surprised to see some folks that I hadn't expected (one of my cousins (who was there mostly to support me (which I hugely appreciate), for example), and many other folks that I hadn't known knew Iain). I've given up on being surprised at the people that knew him.

I want to thank all the folks that had anything to do with the service. I know that you might not feel like you did very much, but just knowing that you were there and that we could count on you made a whole bunch of folks calmer. Yes, this is directed at the folk who phoned to offer help, those who showed up, those who did things, those who offered to do things and I never got back to, those who did things that I didn't notice, and those who couldn't make it.

Thank you.

I just reread the stuff above, and realized that some of it doesn't make sense. I don't care.

Got back to the car afterward to find a voice message on the cell phone from one of the headhunters that have been trying to find me a contract (let's be honest, they're trying to find themselves a commission, but anyway...). Called him back, told him sure, go ahead and submit my name, and by the way, what happened on that earlier contract you were trying for?

The earlier contract was apparently on hold. The company wasn't going to do anything with it until sometime later in the year.

The day progressed, as days do. I taught my Monday morning guitar student in the afternoon, seeing as how I had that interview in the morning. (She's doing well, too; of course, she practices, which is a big part of getting better, but I digress.)

I arrived home afterward to find that the most wonderful woman in the world had:

1. made tea
2. taken a phone message for me

I don't understand. I really don't...

By the way, what's the HTML code for an ellipsis?

I hauled myself out of bed WAY early to get my stuff together for the day. The company that supplies the sound equipment, Wall Sound, is very good, so I wasn't too worried about the gear; what I needed were the other essentials of a sound guy's life.

• Sharpies, in a couple of different colours (black for writing on most things, and silver for writing on black things)
• chocolate chip granola bars
• a large thermal mug of caffeinated hot beverage tea
• Leatherman tool
• cheap duct tape, black, for taping electrical connections together to make them more nearly waterproof, and for handing to people who ask for tape
• gaffer tape: 2-inch black for sticking things together that shouldn't be damaged by the sticking process, and 3/4-inch white for labeling things
• outlet tester
• cable tester
• flashlight
• CDs to play while doing changeovers between shows; curiously The Bothy Band's CD generated the most "Who is this?" questions
• drinks and food to keep us going through the day (yes, the festival organizers are supposed to supply food for the various folks that work there; we both have allergies* that make this difficult to rely on, and we were far enough away from the main area that I think we got forgotten about)

*me - citrus fruits (oranges, lemons, grapefruit, etc., etc.), tomatoes, strawberries, cranberries; Heidi - sugar, soy

We headed out to our stage to set up. The mixing board, speakers, microphones, etc., were brought over in a van. We unloaded them, set up speakers on stands, ran cables, begged for chairs and a table to set up on, and were ready to go by the time the performers were arriving for the first show at 11:00.

Things went quite well. The weather was warm and sunny, the performers were having a good time, heck, everybody was having a good time. The only major glitch was an unfortunate electrical unplugging in the midst of things; we lost sound completely for about 20 seconds or so.

And people were great. There were no divas among the performers, everybody on the crew worked hard and worked well together, the shows started and ended on time, couldn't ask for better. There were a few moments of confusion, mostly from getting the same information at the small side stage as was needed for the main stage. One performer didn't need the electric keyboard that was brought out, another didn't need the guitar amplifier that was on the list. Minor details, not problems.

One performer, Mike Evin, brought "Beatrice" with him. Beatrice is a 64-key small upright piano. Uh, okay.... That went fine, too.

Sunday, it rained. We got a tent to protect the sound gear (electricity and water mix far too well), taped up the electrical connections, and the show went on. I was pleasantly surprised at the number of people who came out anyway; rain jackets and umbrellas, and away we went. The speakers were under the stage tent to keep them from getting soaked; unfortunately this meant that the sound wasn't quite as good as Saturday. Because the speakers were so much closer to the microphones, there was more possibility of feedback. To avoid that, I had to turn some frequencies down. The sound wasn't bad, just not quite as clear and high fidelity as it had been the day before.

There was everything from fiddle players and guitar players to a tabla player to a dub mixer. The tabla player and the dub mixer were with different acts on the same show, that was neat.

So, why am I sore? Tromping over uneven ground in steel-toed work boots, lifting and carrying gear, laying out and coiling up hundreds of feet of cable, and I suspect general tenseness from having to pay attention to so much stuff all at once.

But dang, it was worth it.

The friend who was having the problems with the meds is substantially better. He's not shaking nearly as badly, he's not puking, and he's able to get up and move around. We went and picked up his mother's car from the shop (his mother is in BC visiting a friend), then off to the grocery store with him for crackers and cranberry juice. Seems like he's going to survive.

The friend with the marital difficulties is looking for a place to stay/live. So, if anybody knows of a spot for a musical scholastic type, please let me know.

And the friend with the clutch problems has them sorted out, but ran into computer problems. I'm somehow not terribly surprised...

Heidi and I today spent some time at the Ottawa Folklore Center setting up an order for a new Moeck Great Bass recorder.

This is significant because the order is in my name. Heidi is plagued by a Bad Special Order Fairy; when she tries to order in something to a store, the order goes wrong through no fault of hers.

F'rinstance, she ordered a Yamaha tenor recorder a while back. Well, the shipping place took a while to get the order together. Then they shipped it to the wrong place. Then, after they figured out the right place to ship it to, the order was *stolen* from the courier company. *THEN* the shop tried to get another one, and Yamaha didn't have any more in North America.

And don't even ask about trying to get sheet music...

Anyhow, the order has been started, and we shall see what happens.