Raising my Lonely Dental Floss

By design, allowed myself to sleep in until almost 615am. Like the morning before, I stepped out onto the deck to drink in the cool, clear September air. Simply gorgeous! Quickly completed calisthenics then delivered Mindy's coffee. She was still in bed at 630am. At Bella's request, I didn't plan to run until after she was on the bus. Instead, I played around online and enjoyed coffee for the better part of an hour ahead of bus time. Before Mindy left, she asked what time I wanted to leave for the concert later than evening. I suggested around 630pm.

Bella and I headed to the bus stop with me in my running clothes. As soon as she was boarded, I planned to take off for my daily run. Bus showed pretty much on time. I walked Eiknarf then after parking her back at home, I headed off on my run. I ran the full 4.1 miles. The later run meant a warmer temp, but it was still no more than 60 degrees. Very Septemberish.

Back home by 850am, I was quickly off to the shower. Was then showered and dressed by 910am. Took a few minutes to pay a couple bills then headed off to work. Toyed with driving the BM'er but didn't. I wanted to stop at ASBCO at lunch and pick-up Jacob's new snow board. I couldn't do that in the BM'er. Arrived near 930am.
Felt good to be back in my regular office for the first time since the Thursday prior. Stopped by to see & chat with a couple pals before digging into some serious work.

Made significant progress on my year-to-date presentation as well as progress on my monthly report. Left for ASBCO near 1240pm. Took about 20 minutes to get there. The parking lot was packed, though all the cars not at ASBCO. Instead, they were at the Asian market in the same strip mall. According to the ASBCO sales guy, they were holding a big sale. Didn't take long for them to get Jacob's gear from the back. Helped me carry it out to the Accord. Commented on my new vanity plates.

Stopped by brother Craig's practice which is right around the corner from ASBCO to pick-up a prescription for Bella. He wasn't in, nor was Jodie but was aided by the nurse at the desk. Headed back to the office. Back at my desk by 130pm. Ate my veggies and cheese while finishing out my day. Felt awfully good with everything I accomplished. Left for home around 430pm, stopping at CVS along the way to drop off Bella's prescription for filling. Decided to fill-up my gas tank, too. Stopped at the Mill Run Shell station.
Arrived home around 505pm. I was psyched about the Zappa concert, though we didn't plan to leave for another hour or so. Shortly after my arrival home I fired up my laptop if for no other reason to be ready to work first thing Friday AM. Jiamken soon showed to pick-up Jacob for soccer. Near the same time, Bella left with Makayla to go to Lillian's soccer game. My dad was coming by at 730pm to watch the kids while Mindy and I attended the Zappa concert.

We readied and left the house near 6pm. Wondered if I should grab a jacket, but it was presently 83 and sunny. We didn't need a blanket this time since we weren't in the lawn area. Instead, Mindy paid for assigned seats up close. Parked in the same lot as the week before and very near the same spot. The parking lot wasn't nearly as crowded. There wasn't a home Clipper game this time.

We headed to the Music bar again, just as we did the week before at the ESMZ show. This time we were more efficient, and Mindy much more alert. I ordered a 20 oz. Goose Island IPA while Mindy went with a Capt'n & Coke. All the tables on the outdoor patio were taken. An older gentleman offered that we share his. Thanks!! He was sitting by himself and in the shade. Perfect! Much older crowd than the week before. And lots of Zappa t-shirts, some vintage, but most from recent Zappa on Zappa tours. While we sipped our drinks, Zappa was warming up. It was pretty loud too. There was a younger guy, who at the time I assumed just an over the top fan singing along to the rehearsal and with almost over the top zeal. Was a little surprised that he knew all the words. Later we would learn that he was the lead singer. How funny is that?

We had plenty of time before the show. We sat at the Music Bar patio for at least 30 minutes enjoying the rest of our drinks as well as a slice of pizza. And just before we walked down the steps and into the venue, I asked Mindy if she would fetch me another IPA. She did so willingly. Headed into the venue with a giant IPA (32 oz).

We checked out the t-shirts on our way to our seats. Mindy agreed to buy me a Zappa t-shirt much like she did at the ESMZ show until she realized they were only accepting cash. Hmm? Wasn't the case the week prior. No worries. None really grabbed my eye anyway. We headed to our seats, which to my surprise were much closer than I imagined - 3rd row right flank. Cool!

The show wouldn't start until almost 830pm. We had a good 90 minutes to kill. We ended up chatting up a storm with the father/son combo sitting next to us. I spotted a girl I work with. I hollered out her name and said hello. As the sun dipped behind the high fence a slight chill filled the air. In an instant I wished I had brought that jacket I briefly considered. Mindy echoed that same thought, though she had a thin black shaw thing. Before the show began I hit the restroom. Checked out the shirts again while up. When I got back to our seats Mindy shared that she now had to go pee. Before she walked off, I gave her $40 and asked that she fetch me one of those Zappa t-shirts after all. In detail, I described which one.

While she was away, another couple claimed the two seats next to us. Turns out it was noted local attorney, Sam Shamansky. Mindy knows him fairly well and reintroduced herself and then me. We chatted briefly before the show started. Heard from many in the crowd that it was Dwezil's birthday. Dwezil shared early on that this was also the 40 year anniversary of one of his father's most highly acclaimed albums, Live at the Roxy& Elsewhere. Said they'd be playing most if not all of that particular album.

Honestly, it's Zappa music I am not that familiar with but it was played well. Not only that, we quickly realized that the guy we saw at the Music Bar singing to the band's rehearsal was in fact the lead singer. He did a remarkable job imitating Frank's vocals. And Dwezil did a phenomenal job on lead guitar.

I had already warmed Mindy that she might not enjoy the music as much as me, and certainly not as much as she did the ESMZ show, but she was a trooper despite not feeling any attachment. One thing's for certain, all the members of the band are very talented musicians. They played for about an hour before taking a 15 minute intermission. The intermission was brutal thanks to the ever present  chill in the air. It only worsened and was often accompanied by a chilly breeze. I was reminded of that chilly Sunday in May at the OSU graduation. Yikes!

They finished the Live at the Roxy stuff and then played a few familiar old favorites, including Dental Floss & Muffin Man. I enjoyed the show but would've liked to hear some other tunes I was more familiar with. But on the same token, I understand that this is the 3rd time this show has been in CMH and it wouldn't work to play the same stuff over and over. I guess the last time they were in town (August 2011) they played all of Apostrophe. Of course I had tickets to that show but had to miss it due to being shipped off to NYC for strike duty.

The show went until 11pm. Dwezil announced that he'd be at the t-shirt stand signing autographs after the show. I toyed with the idea of having my new Zappa t-shirt signed but didn't. Mindy was tired and cold and ready to go. We headed for the parking lot and then home. Arrived there by 1120pm. Dad was outside at the time walking the pug. While I rolled the trash can to the curb, dad & Mindy chatted. I thought I heard dad say something about his sister Ruth coming to visit over the weekend. Once inside I clarified. Yep.

Dad didn't stay long at all. I was hungry and stayed up long enough to woof down a slice of the Poppa John's pizza they ordered for dinner. Like the week before, Bella was still awake. Before heading off to bed, I tuned into the tail end of the opening night NFL game between the Broncos and Ravens. Bronco were ahead by plenty. I might've watched about 10 or 15 minutes of the action before calling it a night. Was in bed near midnight.