[Trombone-l] OhMyGawd!

[David W. Buckley]

Hi Tim.

I've done exactly the same thing with my glasses. Fortunately I have figured
out the problem before the program srarted and have been able to get them in
time. I've also left them at home on occasion and have once or twice left
the music at home. The glasses are supposed to never leave my case but!!!
Fortunately in all cases I had time to go home and get them.

I had the opposite problem the other day. My music glasses are bifocal but
with the bifocal part set to focus on the stand taking up 2/3rds of the lens
and the top 1/3rd made for distance to see the conductor - sometimes I do
look. Driving home from practice on the 401 north of Toronto - the 2nd
busiest expressway in North America for those not familiar with Toronto -
and was wondering what had happened to my eyes since everything was blurred,
not a good feeling at 70 mph. Eventually I discoverd that I was still
wearing the music glasses and the others were in my case in the trunk. Drove
for the next 45 minutes with them perched on the end of my nose so I could
look through the distance part.

Dave Buckley.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Richardson, Timothy Mr. DAC USAG Franconia DPW"
<timothy.a.richardson at us.army.mil>
To: "Bill Dinwiddie" <billdin at comcast.net>; "List Trombone"
<TROMBONE-L at server5.samford.edu>
Sent: Monday, June 12, 2006 10:14 AM
Subject: Re: [Trombone-l] OhMyGawd!


> Did that this spring, playing a musical.  (Bye Bye Birdie)
>
> Background.  I'm over 50 and my vision has faded.  Even with bifocals I
was
> no longer able to clearly see the music and seriously considering just
> giving it up.
>
> But this year I spent the money to have a single vision pair of music
> glasses made, focused at the distance of the stand.  For the first time in
> years I could tell for sure if a note was on the line or the space, and if
> it was half or quarter.
>
> Last two musicals I played were hell for that reason.  But I got the
glasses
> just before rehearsals started for this one, and I was having a great
time.
>
>
> Got out in the pit for the first performance, and just before the overture
> starts I'm thinking that page is sure fuzzy.  Are the lights dim?  Maybe
my
> glasses are dirty?  Nope, got the wrong pair on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.  And I'm
> trapped next to the stage, absolutely no way to climb over everybody else
> and get back to my case and switch.  Now I'd practiced my butt off, and I
> knew the music pretty well.  So by leaning close and memorizing a few
lines,
> leaning back and blowing, I was able to get through to intermission.
Sheer
> misery though.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bill Dinwiddie [mailto:billdin at comcast.net]
> Sent: Sunday, June 11, 2006 17:54
> To: List Trombone
> Subject: [Trombone-l] OhMyGawd!
>
> Possible new thread:
>
> Many of us have found ourselves in an unenviable position when we have
left
> key pieces of our equipment at home and only discovered the omission when
we
> arrived at the gig. I will never forget one specific instance when I got
to
> the gig, reached into the back seat of the car, only to grasp the handle
of
> my.....WHAT?...where the hell is my horn case!!!  OhMyGawd. Knowing full
> well that I was working that night for one of Chicago's least sympathetic
> band leaders, I mentally replayed the last 45 minutes, and realized that a
> habit I had developed had finally backfired on me. When I used to live in
> Rogers Park (extreme northern edge of Chicago), I rented a garage in the
> alley behind my apartment house, and when I would go to the garage to get
my
> car out, I would leave my horn case on a conveniently placed garbage can,
so
> that I could use both hands to open the garage door (you needed two hands
> because the door was old and heavy). Ignoring the wisdom over leaving
one's
> case atop something as unsanitary as a garbage can, I can only say that
the
> technique worked very well for me up until the night in question.
>
> Realizing that the only solution to my problem was to roar back up Lake
> Shore Drive to my apartment to retrieve the horn, my heart sank as I
> realized that the quest would very likely end badly. By this time, someone
> had probably seen the case and decided that it would fetch a nice price at
a
> local pawn shop. By the time that I arrived back at the garage (after
> setting speed records on the 40 minute drive), I turned the corner on two
> wheels, and, lo and behold, there it was...still perched on the trash can.
> At this point, I can assure you that, unlike the joke, I did not find two
> trombone cases. After uttering a prayer of thanks, I was very happy just
to
> retrieve one case and do another mad dash downtown to the gig, where I was
> amazed that I was only about 15 minutes late. I wasn't much good the rest
of
> the night as I was mentally exhausted.
>
> Do any other members have horrifying stories of a similar nature? Maybe
now
> is the time to get them off your chest.
>
> Bill Dinwiddie
> billdin at comcast.net
>
>
>
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