bjbass

I quit my Luciano gig this week. I hated quitting, but fatigue from Parkinson’s was becoming continually worse.

We started playing together in 2015. Dave has been singing Sinatra style for years, and Ron is a piano player who can play just about anything. We played Fridays at Luciano, a restaurant and bar in south-east Huntsville.

We played songs like Strangers in the Night, I’ve Got You Under my Skin, Summer Wind, Beyond the Sea, Tenderly, Almost Like Being in Love. I loved playing this stuff. I never used charts.

In fall of 2016, Ron had a heart attack that very nearly killed him. Ironically, he was playing at a funeral. He went several minutes without breathing. His doctors said there was some brain damage, but a 100% recovery was possible.

We played out the year with Pete Harrison on piano. I also belonged to Kaleidoscope, an excellent horn band playing music like Chicago, and I concentrated on those tricky charts. It was great fun, at the time, but I was fired in September 2017.

The timing was perfect. Ron was recovering well and was working with Dave on Thursday nights. I asked if I could join, and they were happy to have me back. The warm welcome I received was in stark contrast to my exit from the horn band.

I played with Ron and Dave from September 2017 until I quit this week, April of 2019. Ron was working on rehabilitation, and my goal was to fight off Parkinson’s with music. I told Ron we should call the band Brain Damage, but he thought it had already been taken.

During that time, I had periods of weakness and fatigue from Parkinson’s. Ron and Dave encouraged me to push on through it. Most of the time I could do it. On some nights, though, I was almost too tired to play. Recently I’ve been having more of these fatigue nights, which took the fun out of playing.

So that’s he back story. I’m looking into electric upright basses, which are very much lighter than my regular string bass. I may be able to give that a try. But for now, I’m out of the band.

Let's think outside the box for a minute.

Baby boomers are retiring, and there is a shortage of young workers moving into the economy to replace them.

Unemployment is the lowest it has been in many years.

Crops are rotting in the fields for lack of workers to harvest them.

An influx of new legal workers would increase tax revenue and revitalize Social Security.

Let's get practical and find a way to bring these immigrants into the US.

First, we have to dispel some common misconceptions.

"There's no room for them." I've never even met an illegal immigrant, have you?

"They collect welfare and get food stamps and other government-supplied handouts." Illegals are not eligible for government benefits. And they DO pay some taxes, paying in to SS using fake numbers (they pay in but can never collect), and paying sales tax and property taxes through rent.

"Open borders allow criminals to enter our country." This is NOT "open borders." Everyone who enters is vetted before being allowed in. The bad guys get filtered out. It has been done this way for years.

"If they want to be here they should apply through legal means." That's impossible for most people. The first step is to apply for a green card. To get a green card, you have to be sponsored by a relative who is a (legal) US citizen. The vast majority of potential immigrants don't have such a sponsor. Even if they do, this process can take years, and can get sidetracked for the most trivial reasons.

And it should be noted that applying for asylum is legal. Asylum applicants sometimes cross the border and come in illegally because it gets them into the system faster. There are some horrible stories coming out of Central America, and in the past we have accepted many of these asylum seekers.

"They are a drag on the economy." They are coming here to work. That's the whole point. And there have been cases where people have had to shut down profitable, tax-paying businesses and fire employees when the business owner was deported.

"All they have to do is get into the US and have a baby." True for the baby -- he or she is a US citizen. Not true for the mother.

"They violate our laws when they cross our borders." True. But you break the law when you drive 55 in a 50. These are people much like you and me, desperate to come here to escape poverty and gang violence and to build a life for their children. Wouldn't you?

2017 was a year of loss for us. In April, Meg’s sister Beth, of Ann Arbor, died after a long battle with lung disease. Then in November, her brother KC, of Yakima, Washington, died of cancer. Both were in their 50s.

Meg’s aunt Dodie also died this year.

My friend and former co-worker Priscilla of Ann Arbor died. She wanted a time of celebration rather than a traditional funeral, so we all celebrated Priscilla’s life with an event catered by Zingerman’s.

My friend Suzie died. Suzie had a wonderful voice. We often played together with Rick Jobe and Tuxedo Junction, and sometimes we worked as a duo. Lullaby of Birdland was our theme song, and it will always make me think of her.

Elizabeth lost both of her cats, Seymour and Gambit, this year.

And last but not least, everybody’s favorite dog Peppie died in 2017. Peppie was a rescue Pomeranian who weighed in at six pounds when we got her. We kept her name because she answered to it. When Meg had the yarn store, it was not unusual to see a customer walking around with yarn in one arm and Peppie in the other.

Meg stayed in Ann Arbor with Beth for the first three or four months of 2017, so I lived the bachelor life for a while, just me and the cat bouncing around in this big house.

We each had reunions in Wisconsin in 2017. Mine was our 52-nd. Granville High was a smallish suburban school when I was there. Now known as Brown Deer High School, it has grown in size, programs and athletics. I was impressed by the huge fancy gym, pool, weight room, and other facilities for athletics, but was disappointed in the puny band room.

Meg’s reunion was a little more of a traditional Wisconsin reunion, in a bar with a back room, somewhere near the end of the world. She enjoyed seeing old friends. I enjoyed the food and beer.

While in Wisconsin, we enjoyed a fish fry at the Lakefront Brewery with my brother JR and sister-in-law Kathy. And we enjoyed a dinner with my old roommates Tim and Ken at the Golden Mast, out near Oconomowoc.

We got new phones, iPhone 7+.

Elizabeth and Meg and I went on a road trip. We started off going to Niagara Falls. The view from the restaurant on the 33rd floor of the Hilton is spectacular, and much more comfortable than riding in a crowded boat.

We went to the Baseball Hall of Fame. There were videos of many famous events, but there were also a lot of displays with small writing that I couldn’t read.

Our destination was Maine, and more specifically Calais (CAL-lis, not Cal-LAY). Meg’s father was from there. She has no living relatives in the area. Her grandparents’ house was long gone, but we found the site where it stood.

We spent a couple days in Portland and Freeport. Elizabeth and I made a visit to LL Bean, where I bought a winter jacket that I am just now learning to appreciate.

Liz and I also visited the Allagash Brewery.

We met with friends for lunch in Ashville.

I watched a lot of baseball this summer. I was watching a game on TV when I made the comment that it would be nice to be able to get Detroit’s channel 50 to be able to watch Tigers games. Certainly, with hundreds of channels on DirectTV, you can do that. DirectTV said we could then said we couldn’t, and we ended up getting the entire baseball package.

The Tigers were a powerhouse a few years ago, but by last year they were a team with past-their-prime stars with huge salaries. So they started trading these guys for prospects. I’d just get to know a player and then he’d be gone, playing for some other team. The Tigers GM traded his own son to the Cubs. Next year the Tigers will start rookies and journymen, as they rebuild. It will be awful, and they’ll end up in last place. But I’ll still watch and enjoy it.

I took eight weeks of physical therapy to improve my Parkinson’s-impeded motion and balance. The results were good. I was able to do things at the end that I couldn’t do at the beginning. Like getting up off the floor.

We got a new 65-inch TV this year. Our “old” one, which was not all that old, got zapped by a lightning strike very nearby. Everything else was OK, but the TV got zapped.

We got to enjoy meals with longtime friends Tim and Ken, and an excellent fish fry at Lakefront Brewery. And, of course, with brother JR and SIL Kathy.

It was a tough year for music. I played for Beauty and the Beast at Grissom High School. It was an excellent production, and a fun bass part. Unfortunately, I fell while moving stuff before a rehearsal, and fractured a rib. I think this may have to be my last musical. I love playing for them but I don’t have the stamina to do all the work involved.

I worked on and off on Thursdays, playing Sinatra-style vocals with Dave McConnell and Ron Simmons.

And I got fired by my rock band. I helped get this band put together three years ago. It’s an excellent band, a rock band with horns. The night I was fired I had played “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is,” twice, a tricky part that I nailed. They said I was losing the groove, and maybe I am, although I don’t feel it. I do have trouble once in a while with Parkinson’s restricting my arm and hand motion, and that may have something to do with it.

I’m still with the Sinfonietta, a string orchestra that I guess you could say is bigger than a chamber orchestra and smaller than a symphony. I guess. Depends on who signs up.

I only got one call for a Christmas gig, although I didn’t market myself much. After I accepted it I had to sub it out, because I had just found out that I needed oral surgery.

I had all of my upper teeth pulled, and several lowers. I am trying right now to get used to an upper denture.

I think our neighborhood is the last one where kids still trick-or-treat. I wore the witches wig and put the witches hat on the porch floor. It would assign the kids to fictitious houses, like PepperPickle or Hassenpheffer.

We hosted the family Thanksgiving feast, as we usually do. It was sad to have some empty seats, but good to see brother JR and his wife Kathy, and nice to have CJ’s girlfriend Caolin with us.

All my doctor appointments seem to be coming up at the same time.

My neurologist, Dr. Mulpur, watched me walk and was satisfied. He had me do some other little exercises, like tapping my leg with one hand and holding the other still, and closing my eyes while standing. I was able to do these easily.

I told him about my dental problems, since "dry mouth" is often associated with Parkinson's.

I told him I have persistent tremor but only on the left, and I can stop it. I can still play bass without too much trouble.

He asked me if he had suggested DBS to me. (Actually, I asked HIM about it some time ago). It's available in Birmingham.

DBS is the procedure where they drill a hole in the head and insert electrodes, to reduce tremor.

I asked if this would need to be done soon, or can it be done any time in the future. He said this is not a "golden opportunity" and it can be done whenever needed.

Visit to Dr. Stevens (my ophthalmologist). He said my pressures were down (9 in right eye, 11 in left). I wonder if this is related to my recent weight loss.

He wants me to come in and see the refraction person to see if I need to add some more prism in my prescription to counter double vision. He asked if the double vision improves after I've taken my L-dopa. I said no, but maybe it does, so I should keep an eye on that, so to speak.

He reminded me to use eyedrops several times a day, because Parkinson's patients don't blink often enough.

Last night was our appearance before the city's Board of Zoning Adjustment, which awards variances for building projects that don't meet zoning requirements. We are planning to build an open covered walkway from the back door of the house to the garage. I'm not sure why this requires a variance, but it has to do with setbacks. The garage itself required a setback variance, and I guess the covered walkway is considered an extension of the garage.

The architect wrote a letter that we sent to 51 neighbors, describing the project and notifying them that it would be considered at last night's meeting.

We met our next-door neighbor and she thought we were building some huge thing that would affect her property value. We showed her what we planned, and she seemed satisfied. One other guy, from behind somewhere, came over to see what we were doing, and when we showed him, he saw no problem with it.

So we thought getting the variance would be easy.

We were #15 on the agenda. After nearly three hours we were on. The architect explained the project to the board. Then several people from the neighborhood came forward, including our next-door neighbor. Some had this mixed up with our planned carport, which does not require a variance and which was a nonissue for this board.

Our neighbor was concerned, again, about a big structure. Once again she saw the architect's drawings showing that it's a five-foot roof held up by pillars. Neighbors "across the street," actually across and two doors down, wanted to talk about the carport. They were told again that it is not an issue. The walkway will not be visible from their house. Our HOUSE is barely visible from theirs.

There was some discussion by the board. This was no slam-dunk. What their concern was, people sometimes build an outbuilding and then come to the appeals board for a variance to build a covered walkway between them. What they actually do is build a closed breezeway. The whole thing becomes one structure that would never have been approved on its own.

Apparently it's fairly common for people to submit a plan for one thing, and then to build something else. They didn't believe that we would do that, but they are looking carefully at requests like ours.

We were awarded our variance.

But we are concerned about fuddy-duddy neighbors who will spend an entire evening at a government meeting to protest, but who won't devote ten minutes to come over and knock on the door and say, what's this all about?"

Now we've got a black caddy driving back and forth and slowing down in front of our house.

 At my visit to the GP, I told her I was in the market for a new neurologist. I need someone I can talk to about medication options, side effects, and various Parkinson's symptoms and what I can do to reduce their effects. An example is double vision. It comes and goes, but it makes it difficult to read music. (Not to mention driving to rehearsal.) Can I reduce its effect with eyedrops, or special glasses, or timing my meds differently? Other symptoms include heavy sweating episodes in which Iose hand strength, drooling, balance problems, and having trouble talking. 

 Last Thursday I woke from an afternoon nap with a pretty severe pain in my right side, and radiating into my back. My first thought was appendicitis, because a friend recently died from complications of appendicitis. 

 I need a day off. Yesterday: deposit check from selling the car, pick up prescription, go to the Fret Shop for a couple things (have you priced leather straps lately?!). Found out they had sold a speaker cab of mine on commission and they had a $200 check for me. First time I ever walked out of the Fret Shop with more money than I walked in with. So, back to the bank. Practice a little before orchestra rehearsal. Go to Orchestra rehearsal. 

 Old friend insomnia is back after a long absence.