WTF-Beta

@dolmansaxlil that sounds horrible and terrifying!!

@Bernard I didn’t even recognize the title to know it was a Hitchcock film!!

Wilt

@Bernard said:

North by Northwest (I doubt there's anyone who has never seen it).

I have not seen it.

Great pics, @steve-miller !! The building collector is interesting!

I’m guessing you’re not going into Mpls/St. Paul?

I love the Twin Cities. I lived there for about 6 years (first in Mpls and then in St Paul), and I got my BA from the U of Mn. It’s changed a lot since I lived there, for example I guess there’s a monorail now.

@RealPlayer said:

Shingrix?

Yes, that’s the one I had. You might ask you PCP again, if that discussion was a while ago, I think the scientific support for getting the shingrix has really increased. (As @wtg mentioned)

I am hopefully done with these side effects, but it was definitely a much rougher two days than I expected. The nurse said the second one is worse (this was my first shot) so I might shift around my appointment for shot number two…

BTW for anyone getting the shot, do plan to take Tylenol, that definitely helped me. I went to bed at 9:30pm last night, that helped too.

Also plan to clear your calendar.

@AdagioM said:

But I’m sorry it’s hitting you that way. Whine away!

thank you!!!

I survived my two classes, whew!

I can actually tell it's starting to work its way out, I should be fine by tomorrow, or maybe even by bedtime. Probably teaching actually helped, as awful as it was earlier today!

Now home and see if I have any energy after dinner to play the piano.... I have a multi-week streak going here!

Thanks everyone! At least I'm not the only one!

@wtg yep, the benefits beyond avoiding shingles are definitely part of the draw. But also, one of my brothers had shingles, very, very nasty and something I want to avoid!

@Jodi said:

The second one made me feel even worse (plan accordingly).

Yeah, I scheduled it for after fall classes end!

I just went to the cafe near my office and got myself a treat (coffee and a cookie!) I'll survive!

Whining helps though!

I got it yesterday midday. By 9pm, I felt feverish and like I had been run over by truck. I took some tylenol and went to bed.

This morning I still feel feverish and still feel like I've been run over by a truck. The only difference is now my arm really hurts. I just took some more tylenol.

I have to teach in about 2.5 hours.... Someone please save me.

/whine

@Daniel said:

That's because you're British.

I don't think that's why. I never saw her husband mentioned either, maybe once around the time that he passed away, and then again now as her passing has led to many articles about her.

They were very private, so it's not surprising that @andyd and others (me) never saw Dolly's husband mentioned.

Loosey

@AdagioM Aww, if I had any role in your return to piano, that makes me very happy!

And just doing it for you is the perfect reason!

But do let us know how it goes and what you're working on!

@Steve-Miller said:
And do I really need a washer that lasts 30 years? At my age I hesitate to buy green bananas!

FWIW (which isn’t much) I don’t like front loaders.

Fish

@AdagioM wonderful!

What a was the trigger that pulled you back?

@Bernard nice! that’s a gorgeous house!

Also this:

for sale for the first time since being built in 1878

Wow!!

@kluurs said:

"whatever time of the day the person can consistently focus their time."

Yep. My preference would be to practice in the morning, but it's just not possible. So it's usually night time, but even if I can only put in a little bit of time, I do. And then when i have a bigger chunk of time, I benefit from that more because I've been at the piano consistently.

@kluurs said:

if I dedicated myself to playing several hours a day and with proper instruction, I might rise from a bad player to mediocre

That's pretty much me. As you say, it doesn't matter. It gives me great joy. (And somehow, miraculously, doesn't drive my husband crazy).

So I keep playing.

@Bernard said:

@ShiroKuro Planned obsolescence

I feel like a lot of what we see with the shittiness of consumer products isn’t even “planned” though, it’s just slipshod work, a complete lack of commitment to quality, and zero sense of responsibility to consumers.

If a cost can be cut, it will be, regardless of the consequences.

Keeper

@AndyD said:
the discipline to play each through daily

For whatever reason, daily practice and consistency (like returning to daily practice if I miss a day) is the one thing I’m really, really good at. Of course, partly that’s because I worked really hard early on to make consistent practice a routine, and I read all the things online about how to do that.

Another reason surely has to do with the fact that I started as an adult and was (still am?) a little bit obsessed with piano. And then the few times I’ve had serious challenges to my ability to stick with piano (grad school, big moves, career changes) I’ve used daily practice (or at least daily playing) as a way to keep me connected to piano even when I wasn’t practicing enough to progress or improve.

Getting a good teacher is another ideal, if as is likely, I continue learning certain classical pieces. A lesson every fortnight would do.

I am a huge proponent of taking lessons, and I personally prefer in-person, real time lessons. But there are lots of good online options as well (both real time or self-paced). Have you considered something like Tonebase? I believe it’s fairly well-regarded. And if you’re playing classical pieces, it seems like a good model.

If fitting real-time lessons into your schedule is challenging, perhaps you could start with something like that?

@kluurs are/were you a member of Tonebase?