WeeManDan

So I’ve only got a couple of hours of work left in 2008 and to be honest there’s very little if anything to be done so my ‘firewall screen’ is up, looking busy as I slowly wind down.

Christmas has started for me already with the KAOS rehearsal yesterday and I’ve got the first concert this evening which I’m rather looking forward to. On the trumpet side of things, the practice over the last month appears to have worked well and I got through the 3 hour rehearsal yesterday unscathed thanks to a practice mute.

I’ve been playing with a practice mute in for two reasons, first it is a whole lot quieter and second it increases the pressure on the lips and in the lungs significantly giving me a far harder/better work out than a normal practice. I’d say 5 minutes with the practice mute in is roughly equivalent to 15/20 minutes of normal play and I’ve been doing about 20 minutes a day. Part of me wishes I’d been this disciplined 5-10 years ago, I know I’d be a far better player now but alas I was young, foolish and probably lazy!

I’m now at something of a crossroads regards playing. Thing is Kita comes up with blisters on her lips if we enjoy a kiss after I’ve been playing. She has hyper sensitive lips and anything other than vaseline is more or less a no no. I’m not sure yet whether it is the valve oil or the lacquer of the trumpet which is the problem but I’m going to get a plastic mouthpiece in the new year and see how things go. I’d forgotten how much I enjoy playing and hopefully Ben and I are going to have a bit of a jam session soon.

So its the trumpet or a kiss, what’s the bit in the Bible about serving two masters?

Anyhow, 1.5 hours left and tea time soon. I’m going to write something like a review of my 6 months so far at HP, what it’s been like working in a global company and how it’s shaping my views come graduation time over the Christmas break. Mostly for my record but also to give people an idea and hopefully it’ll be interesting, hopefully.

Dan