I'm Writin' My Will on a Three Dollar Bill in the Evening Time

Friday. Yeah! It hasn't been too bad a day, I guess. Which is strange, because if today's events occurred on another day, things may be different. I've got a sales rep who has a hot order coming through that has to get financial approval like yesterday in order to please his customer. Our contract with our customer requires that we bid each job twice between competing vendors so we can get "fair and reasonable pricing." So, the rep sends me over both quotes. Are we going with vendor #1 since they are already set up in the system, we have a valid liability insurance certificate on file and is a proven reliable supplier? No, of course not. We are going with previously unused vendor #2, which means that we have to get a copy of their insurance (naming us additionally insured, something vendors traditionally LOVE to do), set them up in our system, and then roll the dice on whether or not they can deliver or not. Sure, vendor #2 provided a little bit lower quote, but considering that this is a super rush emergency order (curiously quoted by the vendor March 6th...), doesn't it make sense to take the easiest path possible to ensure optimal expediency through the company bureaucracy and red tape? No, let's take the long road and bug the financial guy every five minutes to ask if everything has been secured and approved yet. That sounds like the way to go.

Seriously, though, I'm in a good mood. It's Friday, things are going well, and I've got a good vibe going. Perhaps it's because I got my weekend started right by jamming some Beck on the way into work today. I've said this before, and I'll say it again. I love Beck. Sure, he has the public persona of the funny, weird slacker guy, but dead honest, I think he is one of the songwriting greats up there with Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, and Bob Rivers. Like a Zen riddle, Beck's lyrics on the surface can seem to be nonsensical non sequiturs, but can actually be deeply profound once truly considered. Or, sometimes they really are nonsensical non-sequiturs and that is a lot of fun as well.

With the possible exception of Sea Change, any Beck album is a good candidate for Friday music. Today's selection happened to be Odelay, which apparently is a way of saying hello in Southern California (circa 1996 or so when this album came out). I don't know, I've never actually heard this greeting in a real world situation, just on the cartoon PB&J Otter. But I don't take much credence in that. Let's just say that as far as cartoons go, PB&J Otter is no Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy.

Ok, now that I've provided definitive proof of my arrested development (as if the Star Wars obsession wasn't proof enough), I'll get back to the music review. Where was I? Oh, yeah, Odelay. While Mellow Gold was Beck's breakthrough album, Odelay is what placed him firmly on the board. Produced by the Dust Brothers (who also produced one of the best albums of all times, Paul's Boutique by the Beastie Boys), this album was much more assessable than its predecessors. It was both a commercial and critical success, and proved that Beck was not just some slacker flash in the pan. Overall it's probably his "best" album, but not necessarily the one that exhibits what I consider to be the true Beck. Of course, since Beck changes it up from album to album, it's probably best to go out and buy all of his work to get a more comprehensive view of his talents. If you're shopping a la carte, definitely go with Puttin' it Down, still my favorite Beck tunes.

Odelay is fun album by one of the industry's greats. Even on a cold, rainy day when sales reps have been hassling me every two minutes (along with the same old crap I usually have to deal with) the good vibes from this disc have lasted well into the afternoon. Highly recommended.

That Has Always Been and Will Always be; There's a Hornet's Nest in My Head, Come and Save Me

Thursday. Today has been a bipolar day of both ups and downs. On the plus side, seemingly out of nowhere I have been getting payment confirmations on several old and ugly orders that were previously hung up for various disputes/issues/discrepancies/etc. Seriously, I received a forwarded email that first said "no way are we paying this" and then in the next line of correspondence it said "order confirmed for payment." There was no in between, it was just "no" then "yes" just like that. Hey, I'm not going to question it. This invoice goes back to 2004. And that was just one example of the weirdness. Another financial manager and I both decided that today we woke up in another bizarro dimension in which the alternate version of this usually stubborn customer liaison actually pays our invoices without question. To test this theory, the other financial rep sent over a bunch of her old problem stuff to see if she could get that paid as well. We'll see how that goes.

On the flip side of all of this, today is website upload day and the database macro has decided to give me a bunch of problems. The customer changed their website two weeks ago and without warning eliminated one of the options for downloading payment information. It would be no big deal, except our database requires this information to be in that particular format in order for it to run correctly. Otherwise it doesn't work. Well, after some tweaking, I've finally been able to correct the problem but it took me all day to do so. Of course, no one is even ever going to know what I've had to go through to provide him or her with a smoothly running, accurate receivables application. All they'll know is that tomorrow morning when they go to access the site it will run like always and will take it for granted that it does so. Oh well.

My internet connection at home is still acting funny. I think I burned out my router. So, I still don't have any new music to review. Instead I pulled out another old CD, Amorica by the Black Crowes. I did a review on the Crowes before here, but it was for a different album. Anyway, I am a big fan of this band. They are so much more than the one or two songs that make it on the radio. Chris Robinson's vocals are extremely emotive and soulful, as if he bears it all on every track. However, the real star of the show is his brother, Rich. Don't get me wrong, the music on the discs is pretty tight, but man, can that guy jam in concert. I've seen the Crowes a couple of times live, and both times they completely rocked out. While Chris gets the main focus on the studio releases, the concerts are all about Rich and his guitar. Billy and I were just talking the other day about a Crowes show we saw together back in the day. Lampside, that one we went to still ranks up there as one of the best shows I've ever seen. It's been several years since I've seen them live, but if the Crowes are even half as good now as they were then, then I would highly, highly recommend picking up a ticket. Good stuff.

You’re Talkin’ a Lot, But You’re Not Sayin’ Anything

Wednesday. I am totally dragging today. I woke up tired and have pretty much slogged through the morning fighting against slipping back into an unconscious bliss. Of course, it doesn't help that today has been incredibly slow and boring, with not much going on worthy of staying awake for. I've spent most of the day doing an odd variety of tasks including vendor payments, collections, and the occasional spreadsheet update. Pretty exciting stuff.

This day is notable for at least one reason, though. Today's post marks my 200th entry on this blog. And while only about 5 of those posts are worth reading, I do have to step back and at least admire my prolificacy if not my profundity. I detailed history of this blog’s creation on the first anniversary of its founding, if you are curious to read it. There have been a lot of changes on this site since then, but I will wait to re-cap those when the true anniversary comes up in June. Until then, I would like to thank you all, fellow readers, as I pledge to continue to provide plenty more boredom and Inaction in the many days to come...

Ok, the internet connection has been out at my house for the past couple of days. I think it was my router because I reset it and played around with the CAT-5s last night and got it back, but who knows. The bottom line is that I haven't been able to procure any new music lately. So, to avoid a repeat I just selected something old that I haven't discussed on this site before: The Talking Heads.

Since the Talking Heads have been around for like 30 years, most of you out there have probably already formulated an opinion them by now. I'm firmly in the "dig 'em" camp. I don't know what it is. Their distinct style of music? Their quirky, yet poignant lyrics? David Byrne? The numerous references to them in Bret Easton Ellis novels? That scene in Revenge of the Nerds where they play Burning Down the House when their fraternity house is actually burning? Who knows. All I know is that my ears derive great pleasure from listening to them, and that's good enough to me.

‘Cause Everyone Says They Know You Better Than You Know Who; Everyone Says They Own You And What You Do

Tuesday. I've had a decently busy day so far. I had my monthly regional meeting this morning in which all of the department managers, supervisors and financial reps (that's me) get together to discuss the state of business in the region and any issues/discrepancies/conflicts/etc. that we may be experiencing. Since I am in a remote, undisclosed location as opposed to being located at our corporate facilities, I get the pleasure of attending these meetings via teleconference. That's fine, except two hours and fifteen minutes later, when the meeting finally ended, I had found that the plastic in my phone receiver had melted and grafted to my ear. Other than that, my day has been somewhat uneventful. After having my morning pretty much blown due to said meeting, I have spent the rest of my day up until this point putting together my pre-website upload spreadsheet. Fun times.

This morning I listened to Speaking for Trees by Cat Power. Speaking for Trees was actually the title of a DVD put out by Ms. Power accompanied by a CD that contained one 18-minute song. I believe that this collection of songs is an "unofficial soundtrack" of sorts, that is, someone lifted the 30 or so tunes that appeared on the DVD and recorded them in mp3 audio format. I was pretty pumped to hear this album (if you want to call it that) since I rather enjoy Cat Power's other work. However, I am sad to say I was a bit disappointed. I don't think any of this disappointment can be attributed to Ms. Power directly, mostly to the individual who put this collection together. The sound was mixed poorly on this recording. Ms. Power's vocals were low and inaudible. Any attempt to increase the treble to clear things up was thwarted by the fact that there was a lot of background noise in the recording, most notably the presence of what sounded to me like a bunch of chirping crickets. As soon as I would try to increase the upper levels, the chirping noise would become painfully piercing to my ears. If I tried to turn down the upper levels and increase the bass, it would just wash out Ms. Power's wonderfully beautiful, but barely audible vocals. Oh, the despair, the injustice of it all!

I'm sure that if I heard these songs in an optimal setting I would have loved them. However, considering the actual situation, I was too annoyed to really get into them. To be fair, I have never viewed the DVD release of Speaking for Trees, so I cannot pass judgment on that either way. Also, this set list was like 1.6 hours long, so I didn't get to hear the back half of the collection. Perhaps in the later parts the sound mix dramatically improved, the background noise goes away, and Ms. Power's voice can be heard crystal clear. I'm going to take a big leap here and assume that it doesn't. While I definitely recommend picking up some of Cat Power's other releases, I advise passing this one over if you happen to come across it while randomly searching out music on the internet. I'm pretty disappointed.

I Must Be Me, I’m In My Head

Monday. It's been a somewhat uneventful day so far. I finished up writing those process instructions that I started on Friday. That took up a decent part of the morning. I also ended up on a couple of long phone calls, one of which indicated that something I thought was a big mess is actually a completely gigantic mess. In October of last year, a guy keying in an order mistyped a number by one digit and now everything has blown up because of it. I was hoping it would just be a quick fix, but the more I dug into it, the more I found out that wouldn't be the case. Lame. Other than that, I am working on my post-upload spreadsheet and trying to hang in there until the end of the day.

We had a beautiful weekend here in Colorado. It was in the 80s on Saturday, so we all went up into the mountains and hung out. It was a very good time. I really enjoy being able to just hop in the car and be in the mountains in no time. That's something I'll never take for granted about living in Colorado. Very cool. Sunday involved a little less recreation. It was spring cleaning day. Deep cleaning isn't my first choice of how I would spend a Sunday, but the house definitely needed it and looks a whole lot better because of it.

After a gorgeous weekend, today's weather has brought us freezing rain and temps in the 30s. That's another little quirk about living in Colorado. The temperature can fluctuate by 40 degrees in less than 24 hours and no one even blinks an eye. Sure, it's lame when the temp drops by 40 degrees, but on the flip side, two days from now when it shoots back up into the 80s it will be pretty sweet.

Sorry, I don't have any new music to discuss today. Once again I am on the lookout for new tunes, so if you have any recommendations please send 'em over. I hope to have some fresh reviews here very soon, but in the meantime I used this opportunity to revisit a band recommended to me a few weeks ago, The National. I am still enjoying this album, and I once again thank Lisa V. for enlightening me. For those of you who want to read my previous post on The National's Alligator, here it is. Otherwise, I am off on the hunt for the latest and greatest in the world of music. See you all tomorrow...

Everybody’s Got a Little Light Under the Sun

Friday. Yeah! A decent Friday so far. I am juggling a couple of projects today. Right now, by the Big Boss Lady's request, I am writing up some instructions on how to do a certain process in our business operating system. I have had to do a number of these recently. I think I am going to add "technical writer" to my resume under my current job description. I've also had to deal with an unruly vendor who keeps balking at our liability insurance requirements. I had to deal with them about a year ago for pretty much the same issue. Most companies are totally cool with it and realize that the minimal expense they have to drop in order to write this document up will be paid back many times by the size of the orders we will place contingent upon receipt of said document. Other ones, like today's particular vendor, completely flip out about having to spend $100 before we send them a purchase order for like $20 grand in material. I tell them it's this simple: if they don't want our order, we'll go with their competitor who will be more than happy to take our $20k. Just let us know if you don't want our money so we can give it to someone else. I have a customer waiting.

That usually gets the point across. I'm waiting for the faxed copy of their documentation right now. Hard copy to follow.

Well, today is Friday, so (as I say every week) I had to get my weekend started off right with something upbeat. This morning I got my groove on by jamming some Parliament-Funkadelic down my earhole. You all may not know this, but despite my outwards appearance of being an ordinary, mild-mannered receivables accountant I am actually one funky brother (and not just on days I don't take a shower). Be it P-Funk, the Meters, Curtis Mayfield, the Spinners, the Gap Band, James Brown, Pat Boone, or any number of other funksters, I have been known to get down with the funky sound. So despite a tanker truck laying over spilling its contents all over the southbound interstate headed into Denver this morning, I was too busy tearing the roof off the sucka to care. The bigger the headache, the bigger the pill as Dr. Funkenstein would say. Anyway, the mission of kicking off my Friday was definitely accomplished by getting up with the downstroke and just lettin' it ride. Parliament-Funkadelic was an excellent choice this morning, and I highly recommend them to any one else who likes to get funked up.

Ok everybody, ring out! Who are your picks for best Friday/pump up/good time tunes? Comment below!

Dreamers May Leave But They’re Here Ever After

Thursday. Man, what a busy day. Today was website upload day and it decided to be a big pain for me. Actually, it wasn't the upload process itself, per se, but I couldn't get access to data necessary to upload the database fully so that was holding me back for most of the day. I never did get an answer back from the couple of people whom I asked for help, so I eventually had to run it without it. I'm sure the customer will complain, but hey, it was their data from their server I couldn't access so don't blame me for your problems.

Other than that I spent the day trying to clean up some things and working on vendor issues. Fun times. The big boss lady said that she ran the receivables report and my prior column (receivables over 120 days old) is now in the $800-900k range, as opposed to $2.3 million last August. Rock on! Plus, things are looking pretty good for May as well, so things are definitely looking good for me in the collections world.

Continuing on with my theme of "lead singers who put out solo projects but still sound like their original band," I selected David Gilmour of Pink Floyd's solo album On an Island. Much not to my surprise, this album sounds a lot like later Gilmour-era Pink Floyd. For those of you familiar with The Division Bell, think of a more minimal version of that album. Mr. Gilmour enjoys exploring themes on his releases (much like all Pink Floyd albums) and after reading the lyrics for these tracks, it appears that this album is dedicated to his family and memories of them. You can tell this is a very personal work. A notable departure from the typical Floyd sound is Smile, which due to its happy tempo seems out of place on this otherwise mellow album. Also of note, Graham Nash and David Crosby make a cameo appearance on the title track. I recommend this album. Gilmour's vocals sound as fresh as they did on Momentary Lapse of Reason and the music is very tight. If you like Pink Floyd (which I do a lot), you will like this album for sure.

The Calm I Feel Means a Storm is Swelling; There’s No Telling Where it Starts or How it Ends

Wednesday. Sorry everyone for the lack of posting yesterday. I don't often miss a daily post, but yesterday was one of those rare times. I took off most of the morning for a doctor's appointment, and by the time I got back into work I was so slammed that I barely had time to get the work I had to get done finished, much less squeeze in a blog post. Of course, I would have much rather have been blogging, but unfortunately I have yet to find a way to get paid doing that, so I had to choose my regular employment first.

Anyway, I went to an Otolaryngologist yesterday, otherwise known as an Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor. I've been suffering from sinus problems and an inability to breathe through my nose my whole life, and after a particularly bad sinus infection last month I finally decided to go see someone about it. Well, readers, according to the doctor I am suffering from a multitude of problems (tell me something I don't know...). I have several structural problems including a deviated septum, swollen tissue problems, and an allergy problem that compounds the other two since my sinuses have nowhere to drain. The doctor said he could tell from the shape of my palate that I have been suffering a long time (only my whole life, doc). So, basically I am getting treatment. The doctor wants to first treat me for my allergies for a month to get them under control before he addresses the structural issues. He said once the swelling and inflammation goes down he can get a better idea of what needs to be done. So, right now I am taking some prescription pills and a nasal spray that have been doing nothing for me. I told the doctor that they wouldn't do anything for me, but he insisted, and who am I to resist doctor's orders? Anyway, I go back in about a month to find out more details about the probable surgery I will have to undergo to fix the structural problems. My good friend Lampsidebriefcase has already undergone this procedure, and assures me that "it sucks and recovery sucks but I would do it annually if I had to to keep the results. It is very very very worth the inconvenience." I'll keep you all posted as more on this story develops.

On Light Strikes a Deal’s recommendation the other day, I secured a copy of 10,000 Maniac's MTV Unplugged performance. LSD, you were right. This album is pretty darn good. I enjoyed it immensely. Of course, any album that has a tribute song to Jack Kerouac automatically gets top marks in my book. The set was very tight, and the performance superb. I was lamenting the other day about the absence of Unplugged (and music in general) on MTV and I fully advocate the channel bringing it back. Of course, they would have to show it on MTV 9 or something since it would require actually having a music program on Music Television, but it would still be pretty cool. I think I'm gonna make a few calls...

Anyway, thanks LSD for the recommendation. Readers, I pass on this recommendation to you. This album is pretty good. You should go pick up a copy.

Have I Been Blind? Have I Been Lost Inside Myself and My Own Mind?

Monday. Not much happening here today. I spent most of the morning working on my post-upload spreadsheet, and then another spreadsheet after that. Right now I am finishing up working on the miscellaneous adjustment account cleanup that I started last Friday. Other than that, not too much new and exciting. The Big Boss Lady was supposed to be in town on Wednesday of this week, but she canceled. I'm kind of disappointed, not because I love having the big boss around, but because I wanted to butter her up for my review in June by riding the positive wave from my amazing collections month and the successful presentation I gave at the end of March. Oh, well. I guess that means I will just have to stretch out this upswing even longer...

This morning I listened to Tigerlily by Natalie Merchant. For those of you unfamiliar with Ms. Merchant, she formerly provided vocals for the band 10,000 Maniacs. In 1993 she left the band in order to pursue a solo career. Her first release of this new career path was Tigerlily in 1995. This album was successful for Ms. Merchant, and firmly set her solo career into motion.

Tigerlily is a good album. I particularly like the track Carnival, which gets some mild airplay on the "adult contemporary" format radio station here in town. Two other songs were released as singles as well, Wonder and Jealousy. For those who know the 10,000 Maniacs, Tigerlily may sound a bit familiar. Not that that's a bad thing, since I happen to enjoy the smooth, mellow vocals that Ms. Merchant provides. But it does make you wonder about how difficult it must be for a vocalist to produce a solo album without it sounding too much like their original band. Is there really much difference between Tom Petty's solo stuff and the stuff he did with the Heartbreakers? Janis Joplin was still Janis Joplin whether she was in Big Brother and the Holding Company, the Kozmic Blues Band, or when she was going solo. Donald Fagen's new album sounds just like Steely Dan. Mark Knopfler still sounds like Dire Straits. Can there really be any escape when your voice is what has defined a band for so long?

Anyway, Tigerlily is pretty good, especially for a long, mellow early morning drive to work. I recommend it.

See Through You Like Cellophane; You watch the World Complain, But You Do it Anyway

Friday. Yeah! Today has gone reasonably well, I guess. I have spent a good part of the day trying to clean up our miscellaneous adjustment account. I am pretty much doing this on my own prerogative since it is so completely messy no one wants to touch it. When I told the Big Boss Lady what I was doing this morning, she laughed and said "Good luck!" Hey, if I can find some credits out on this thing that I can use to clear some of these old items, then it will all be worth it. If not, then hey, at least with my reference notes it won't be quite as messy the next time someone dares to try to make sense of it. Other than that I am working on collections and trying to bring in what $$$ I can before the end of the month.

Faithful readers know that on Fridays I like to listen to something fairly upbeat in order to start the weekend off right. This morning I needed something pretty rockin' to get me going because I was super dragging. It wasn't to the point that I needed to call upon the power of the Beastie Boys, but something close. Who could be rockin' yet upbeat, fun and Friday-like for this morning's commute? The Ramones! Yeah! I love the Ramones. I've been a fan since I was like 13. These guys are great. However, you know what? I've been really bothered lately by the commercialization of this fine band. Ok, Blitzkrieg Bop has been featured in commercials for a few years now, but I recently saw a movie trailer for a Robin Williams movie that featured Bonzo Goes to Bitburg in the soundtrack. Ok, that song was written as a political reaction to seeing then-President Reagan laying wreaths on the graves of fallen Nazi soldiers in Germany. This song was NOT written to sell a movie about a family who encounters a multitude of zany mishaps during their summer RV trip. When I saw that my brain really was hanging upside down. And you want to know what else bugs me? Well, I'll tell you anyway. Celebrities wearing Ramones T-shirts like they are the latest new fashion item. I keep seeing the exact same shirt on a variety of celebs. It's the blue-gray one with the Ramones logo in the middle and all of the band members' names circling around it. Jennifer Garner? Ok, maybe. Paris Hilton? NO FREAKING WAY! I somehow seriously doubt Ms. Hilton is a diehard Ramones fan. I'm guessing that the closest connection that Paris has with the band is if they trashed one of the Hilton hotel rooms back in the '70s.

Ok, sorry about that. I apologize Ms. Hilton if you are indeed the biggest Ramones fan ever. What's your favorite Ramones tune? I'm guessing it's Pinhead. Ok, sorry about that one, too. It's just too easy. Anyway, readers, the Ramones rock. I did a previous review of them way back here if you want to check it out. Otherwise I'm going check out. Have a good weekend everybody. I need to take a couple deep breaths now.

And If a Life’s Not Long What Matter Does it Make If There’ll Be Favorite Songs Playing in My Head

Thursday. Eh. It's been a typical Thursday so far. I came in, followed up on some things, and then I spent the greater part of the morning uploading the receivables website. Right now I am working on more collections and fending off suppliers looking for payment. Speaking of collections... the Big Boss Lady called me this morning. The district financial manager out in California has been trying for a long time now to write off a large bulk of the company's past due receivables. I'm not talking about stuff 60 days old; I mean we still have stuff on the books from 2001. I can't blame him for wanting to get rid of it since it affects his profit center (I work for corporate, which is a non-profit district. We redistribute our profits/losses to the field. It's hard to explain). I mean anything sitting out over a year cannot be considered a current receivable by GAAP standards. Plus, we have to borrow money from the bank to cover these unpaid amounts. So, there has been a lot of heat from executive management to get this oldie moldy stuff off the books. However, since stepping into her current role, the Big Boss Lady has assured senior management that she would take care of everything. She asked me to join her project in November 04, and in August of 05 she asked me to go back into collections to chase down these previously uncollectible amounts. The Big Boss Lady warned me that she was going to give me the nastiest, most problem-ridden accounts she had out there. I was up for the challenge despite inheriting a horrific $2.3 million in my prior column (invoices over 120 days old). Well, 8 or 9 months and a lot of hard work later, I am carrying about $1.1 million in my prior column. That's still horrible as far as stats go, but (if you all can please excuse my own horn-blowing) to bring in $1.2 million of receivables that no one has been able to collect for years in 8 months' time is pretty remarkable. I don't even think I'm doing anything special. Just working with people and getting it done. Anyway, back to the story. The Big Boss Lady called this morning to advise me that the DFM in CA is trying once again to write off about $460k of aged receivables. The Big Boss Lady responded back to senior management advising that of that $460k, $198k is currently being processed for payment, $94k has been scheduled to pay, we have secured proper documentation to get payment for another $132k, and we are currently researching the remaining $36k so there was no need to write anything off. Awesome. Anyway, the Big Boss Lady called to read me an email that she received from the VP of Operations congratulating her and her team for the amazing work we've done, etc. Thanks to our (my) efforts we have reduced California's DSO (days sales outstanding) from over 90 days to 49.5. We've made the district more profitable, etc, etc. The Big Boss Lady then took time to relay that executive management has noticed the work that I have done in cleaning up these old accounts. That made me feel pretty good, honestly, even if it was written superficially. It's nice to have validation once in awhile that all of your efforts are actually worthwhile. Of course, the Big Boss Lady ended the phone call telling me to go out and get the rest of those dollars and where I should start. At least she trusts that I can do it, and that's pretty cool.

Still no new music to review today. Sorry. You know, yesterday I mentioned something in my post about The Smashing Pumpkins being one of the worst bands I have ever seen live (twice, actually). Then I went over to Light Strikes a Deal’s blog and he said the same thing. I found that to be a very strange coincidence, but at least there seems to be a consensus. Today's post however, is not so coincidental. On Hubris' blog (aka Green Hedonist), he had elicited readers to send in seven songs they are listening to right now. Well, I'm sure you all can probably guess what was on this list (no, it was not 7 Modest Mouse songs). Of course I had to include some Pixies, but which one out of so many good ones? I went with Dig for Fire, and ever since then I have had that song in my head. So, I chose Bossanova to listen to this morning on the way in order to indulge my brain's request. While Bossanova doesn't get as much recognition as Surfer Rosa or Doolittle, it is still pretty darn good. My only complaint is that it needs more Kim Deal. Not necessarily more tracks like Gigantic (although that would be nice), but Bossanova doesn't even have her doing backup vocals. What is the deal (or Deal, as the case may be...)? Anyway, this post is going WAY too long. Time to end now.

Suddenly it Appears to Me You Got a Bit Much Dignity For Your Own Good, Boy

Wednesday. As you all have probably noticed, my posts have been fairly lame lately. I think there are several reasons for this. First, I have been super busy lately. This increased level of activity here at work has (quite unfortunately) greatly reduced the amount of time I can dedicate to writing these posts. As a result, they come off rushed and devoid of substance. Being busy has also inadvertently stifled the main inspiration for this blog: my immense boredom at work. Don't get me wrong, this place isn't all of a sudden a fountain of excitement, but having to get all of these things done has kinda cut into the time I usually dedicate to staring at the clock and thinking of clever things to entertain myself. I'm happy to be busy here at work and to actually be getting a lot accomplished lately, but I lament the fact that the quality of this blog has suffered as a result. For that, I apologize, and please bear with me. This flow of activity is bound to ebb, and then Inaction will return to its normal levels of quality and boringness that you have all come to expect.

By the way, I'm collecting a whole lot of old $$$ this month and the Big Boss Lady is noticing. I'm hoping she notices me all the way into a promotion, but I'm not counting on it. A boy can dream, though, can't he?

I still don't have any new music to review, so I busted out one of my old CDs: Sailing the Seas of Cheese by Primus. This is arguably Primus' best album (I'm sure some would say Pork Soda) with classic tracks that include Sgt. Baker, Is This Luck?, and Jerry Was a Race Car Driver. My favorite song on this album, though, is Tommy the Cat featuring Tom Waits (I have a cat named Tom, btw). It's a really fun track and killer to hear live. In fact, all Primus songs are better live, but that tends to be the case with most bands (Smashing Pumpkins being the exception; I saw them twice and both shows are up there with the worst I've ever seen). I saw Primus in a small arena (around 2,000 people) with Lampsidebriefcase and you could just feel the bass bouncing off of your chest. Les just let it fly and totally jammed out. I was supposed to see Primus another time, but I missed their set due to a notoriously late friend of mine. Around the time they were taking the stage, this guy was just getting into the shower. Oh, well. I don't hold it against him. You kind of expect that to happen when you hang out with this guy (Lampside and Billy, you know who I'm talking about...). On a side note, this guy is now a lead singer in a rock band that makes enough $ from gigs that he doesn't have to hold down a full-time day job. I work in accounts receivable.

Anyway, I think I was talking about Primus or something. Oh, yeah. Primus is cool, especially if you like to hear the bass guitar. Most of the lyrics cleverly dwell on the absurd. Les Claypool's voice is fairly distinct, but that just adds to the whole Primus package. I don't think that Sailing the Seas of Cheese would be everyone's cup of tea, but I recommend it just the same. Mr. Claypool is a master of his craft, and any aspiring music aficionado should be familiar with his large contributions to the rock genre.

Finally, in order to cure the recent lameness and to spark some discussion I decided to test out a new feature to this blog: the DAILY QUESTION! (well, I never said it was an original feature...)

Today's question is: A lot of people consider Les Claypool to be the best bass guitarist of all time. Do you agree or disagree? If disagree, who do you consider to be the best? Flea? Geddy Lee? Some other individual?

Please answer in a grammatically correct, 5-paragraph essay with clear supports and transitional sentences. Thank you.

Was it for This My Life I Sought? (Maybe So and Maybe Not)

Tuesday. I had planned on making up for yesterday's completely lame post by providing a captivating commentary about life in accounts receivable and fresh, new music to review but unfortunately that didn't plan out. It has been another busy day here. I spent a good part of the morning putting together my pre-upload spreadsheet for our receivables website. The rest of the time I have been trying to resolve some really old and ugly issues, and bring in some collection dollars. It's not too exciting, but it is keeping me busy.

I tried to have new music today to discuss, I promise. I planned to review David Gilmour's new album, but the music fairy that leaves presents for me on my computer hard drive hadn't visited all the way yet. So... I had to go with something old out of the collection. Since I haven't done Phish in a long while, I grabbed A Picture of Nectar.

Phish seems to be a fairly divisive band for some reason. A lot of people love them. A lot of people hate them. I have a strong inkling that a lot of people who never really heard them hate them simply because of the whole hippy connection.

Please don't make me do the "hippy disclaimer" thing again.

I admit that when I first heard Phish I didn't like them. I didn't like them the second, third or somewhere in the triple-digit times, either. I had my own mental obstacles to deal with, mostly concerning the ever-present comparisons to the Grateful Dead. Ok, both bands are experimental jam bands. Both bands had hordes of loyal fans that toured with them every year. But that's pretty much where the similarities end. The two bands sound nothing alike. It's like comparing oranges to apples. Any comparisons made between the two venerable jam bands are misplaced and invidious. Once I came to this realization, I allowed myself (as a Dead fan) to finally listen to Phish and to (gasp) actually enjoy them.

What I like most about Phish (and the Dead) is their innovation and experimentation on stage. It's one thing to get up and perform the same set list of hits every night, but to never play a song the same way twice and to get up there and wing it consistently in front of a crowd of thousands is absolutely amazing. Another thing I like about Phish is their lyrics. Most the time they are whimsical, somewhat nonsensical, and often tongue-in-cheek. Other times, though, they hit home amazingly like Lifeboy. However, Lifeboy isn't on A Picture of Nectar, it is on Hoist. And considering that this review is about A Picture of Nectar, I better start saying something about it fairly quickly. While every Phish album is distinctively different, A Picture of Nectar provides a fairly good overview of the band. This album was released in the early 1990's, which in my opinion, was a peak in the band's career, kind of a melding between their early experimental work and their later, more relaxed releases. I recommend not just this album, but Phish in general to every music lover. Forget your pre-conceived notions and give them a chance. If you don't like one album, try another. As I said, they are all different. Billy Breathes is a good mellow one to start if A Picture of Nectar's not your thing.

After Awhile It Hurts to Smile and If You Laugh It's Just a Typical Miracle

Monday. I am dragging again today. I think a few late nights are catching up with me. Despite my listlessness, I am hanging in there thanks to coffee and a short nap I took in my car at lunch. Luckily most of my day has been taken up by spreadsheet work, which requires only minimal brain usage. Other than that, I am just reviewing my own accounts and trying to clean things up where I can.

Sorry, no new music to review today. Instead I chose to listen to Perfect From Now On by Built to Spill. I like this album, but it often gets looked over in my collection as I tend to go with Keep It Like a Secret or Ancient Melodies of the Future when I get the jones for some Built to Spill. I like this album, but I have to say it pales in comparison to the other two releases I just mentioned ( I'm pretty sure that I have reviewed it before, but I couldn't find the post. I'll check back when I have more time and link it). If you are considering checking out BtS (which by all means you should) then I say go with Keep it Like a Secret first. These guys are pretty sweet.

Ok, I apologize for the totally lame post today. I'll try to put up a better one tomorrow when I'm halfway conscious and not so busy starting at endless spreadsheet line items...

Me Gusta Reggae, Me Gusta Punk Rock

Friday. Yeah! I am dead tired today and totally dragging. Things are starting to slow down, but I've found ways to keep myself busy. I had my account review with the Big Boss Lady this morning, and thanks to all of those $$$ coming in recently, it went over pretty well. A couple of the VPs have emailed to congratulate her on making this big dent in our prior receivables column. I'm hoping this attention from the executives trickles down to my bottom rung. Bosses like when you make them look good in front of the big dogs...

According to the Big Boss Lady, since I moved back into collections last August I have reduced the prior column (invoices aged greater than 120 days) of my account base by 60%. Not bad at all, if I do say so myself. Especially when you are talking about millions of dollars sitting on some of the biggest and ugliest accounts in the whole company.

As I mentioned before, I woke up super tired and have been groggy for most of the day. Since it is Friday I not only needed to get my weekend started right, but I also needed to raise my consciousness up to a level that I could at least feign like I was working. So, I grabbed an old time favorite of mine: Sublime. I love Sublime. These guys are great. If I could chose any band to see in concert that would be impossible to see now, it would be them. As fun as they are to listen to, however, I still get a tinge of sadness over the death of Bradley Nowell. It is downright eerie to listen to Pool Shark (one of my favorite Sublime tunes) when he prognosticates that "someday (he'll) lose the war." We are all definitely worse off without his talent and future contributions to the music world.

Anyway, I've done some Sublime reviews before, so I won't get all crazy here. Basically all you need to know is that I love Sublime, they totally rule, and with their help (and a full traveler's mug of coffee) I was ready to face another exciting day of Accounts Receivable. Rock on, mi amigos.

Typically Terrific, Busy and Prolific

Thursday. I'm having another busy day, but that's ok because the day is flying by. I spent the morning uploading the receivables website. It started out as kind of a pain due to some server problems, but I eventually got things straightened out and got everything taken care of. The collections are still rolling in and that is very much a good thing. I am working on some more of these collections right now, and once these items clean up things will start looking pretty nice on johnny's accounts. Take notice, Big Boss Lady.

This morning I listened to Illinois by Sufjan Stevens. Or is it Come on Feel the Illinoize? Amazon and other places list it as Illinois, but it clearly says Come on Feel the Illinoize on the album cover. I'm confused. If someone could please clarify things for me I would appreciate it.

Anyway, I had never heard off this guy a few weeks ago. A few days back, though, I was reading Sassinak’s blog and she mentioned that she picked up some CDs and listed this as one of the albums that she purchased. Since I am an obsessive music junky always on the lookout for new tunes, I made a mental note to check him out. Then the very next day I read an article in the paper about album art going by the wayside in the day of electronic media and downloading, and this album was mentioned as one of the more creative covers recently released. Apparently there is a controversy (and pending lawsuit) going on over the original cover since it included an unauthorized depiction of Superman. The cover has since been changed. Anyway, after two days of this guy's name coming up I saw it as a sign that I better check this album out.

And so I did. And I really liked it. At first I thought that he sounded like another Iron & Wine "sensitive guy with a guitar" artist. That was until the horn flourish kicked in. Then it went back to acoustic. Then some electric guitar. More horns. Other musical interludes. Then back to acoustic. This album really keeps you guessing. I have to admit, though, that I didn't finish the whole thing. This is a long album and despite having an hour-long morning commute, I still had 5-6 songs left to hear. I am excited to listen to the rest, though. I really liked this one. Even after only one listen, I'm confident enough to give it a strong recommendation. Good stuff. Thanks, Sass.

Our Music Deserving Devotion Unswerving

Wednesday. Well, things are still busy here, but not as bad as the past two days have been. I have been working through collections today and for once I feel like I am really making some good ground here. Not only am I getting that $500k in aged receivables for my one account, but with the help of one of my co-workers in California, another one of my accounts is starting to get cleaned up as well. It has only been 3 business days into April and this so far has been one of my best months yet. Hopefully I can keep this trend rolling on the up curve...

Well, I'm a little late on this but a few weeks ago Light Strikes a Deal recommended to me The Milk-eyed Mender by Joanna Newsom. With everything going on I didn't get a copy of that album and therefore I fell a bit behind. But I assure you that I take every recommendation seriously, and so today I am happy to finally discuss Ms. Newsom.

I have to admit that when I first started listening to The Milk-eyed Mender the vocals kind of took me by surprise. Light Strikes a Deal had warned me, but still, I don't think there is any preparation for actually hearing them. They are difficult to describe, but if I had to, I would say they come off as a high-pitched warbling voice of a small child singing folk songs. Now, I realize that's a horrible description, but if you have a better one (Light Strikes a Deal compared it to "Bjork on a bad day") please leave it in the comments section below. Despite my initial trepidation, I stuck with it and listened to the album all the way through. I have to say that after the initial shock wore off and my ears went into the "acceptance stage" that the tracks were much easier to listen to. The music behind the vocals is actually quite tranquil. Most of the tracks have a folksy feel to them and some include a harp accompaniment by Ms. Newsom. Light Strikes a Deal lauded her song writing ability, and after reading through the lyrics I agree that they have a clever storytelling quality to them. I hesitate to give this album a glowing recommendation. I think it is good, but I didn't get that instant connection I get with other artists. I'm sure the vocals become easier to listen to with each playing. It is just something so different I think it takes a little while to process and digest it. For those curious and wanting to hear something completely original, I would say go ahead and pick this album up. I guarantee you've never heard anything like it...

My Friends Say No, Don’t Go For that Cotton Candy

Tuesday. Wow, it has been another really busy day here again today. I am still trying to catch up from being out, plus trying to do everything that keeps coming my way. Of course, I realize that these waves of being busy will eventually subside and things will go back to the point where I will be searching for things to do to keep me going. However, as I mentioned in yesterday's post, I have a few ideas of what I can do when that time comes, so hopefully that will take care of that problem. In other work news, a whole bunch of old receivables are finally coming in on my accounts. I have been shaking these trees for months now, and now things are starting to come loose. I have $500k in aged items going back to 2004 coming in on one account alone. April is starting out to be a good month, yes indeed.

I am kind of behind on picking up new music to review, so please forgive me. I still owe Light Strikes a Deal a JoannaNewsom review here, a situation I plan on correcting soon. Today I listened to Gaucho by Steely Dan. I don't know if I've reviewed Gaucho as an individual album, but I know I've done Steely Dan before. Those guys are pretty sweet. Some of you out there may be puzzled by how I can go from discussing Bad Religion one day to discussing Steely Dan the next, but my music tastes are just crazy like that. I'm reminded of this guy I met perhaps my first week of my freshman year in college. I was in his dorm room checking out his music collection (a CD collection can tell a lot about a person) and it was all heavy metal except one CD by Steely Dan. I chuckled out loud about this anomaly, in which he responded somewhat defensively "What? These guys are f'n sweet!" They sure are, dude, they sure are.

Of course one of the best parts about doing Steely Dan reviews is the large amount of trivia surrounding the band. I wrote about some here, but that for sure doesn't cover it. These guys have quite a history. Anyway, Gaucho is pretty good, but I like Aja better. However, the album is worth picking up just for Hey Nineteen alone. Other recommended tracks include Babylon Sisters and Third World Man. Definitely good stuff.

You Can’t Make Dirt Clean So We’ll Just Lemon-Scent It

Monday. Well, faithful readers I'm back. Man, I have been absolutely slammed today. I had a pile of stuff to do waiting for me upon my return on top of a bunch of stuff I had to get done today because it was the first of the month. I also had to update a 21-page instruction manual on how to conduct a summary billing in our system because I had numerous requests for it after I gave my presentation. Oh, how did my presentation go? Well... I'm glad you asked...

Well, the trip overall went much better than I expected. Since I couldn't get a direct flight to Arkansas, I had to change planes in the same city as my company's corporate headquarters. After boarding my connecting flight, I noticed that across the aisle from me, no farther than two feet from my left was none other than my company's CFO. Now, some of you may be calling BS on me for this one since obviously a CFO of a Fortune 500 company with 9,000 employees and $4.3 billion in sales wouldn't be slumming it in coach with a bottom-runger like me, but this was a commuter jet so there was no first class. Although I hate to be a total brown noser, I realized that I was going to spend the next couple of days attending a conference with this guy so I better take advantage of this situation or look like an idiot when he recognizes me later at our given destination. So, I introduced myself and shook his hand and made some small talk with him for a little bit. I must have done all right because the Big Boss Lady told me later that afternoon that Mr. CFO mentioned to her that he had "a very pleasant conversation" with me that morning.

I felt a little slimy for being such a kiss-up, but overall it worked out because due to time constraints one of my presentations was cut out of the agenda. The CFO left early during the second day, and therefore I didn't get to present in front of him. Totally lame. However, I did get to give my other presentation on summary billing and I totally nailed it. Admittedly I was nervous, but all of my preparation paid off. Plus, I tried to interject humor where I could, and I got laughs instead of blank stares, so that was some more points in my corner. Afterwards all three district financial managers in attendance came up to me to discuss my topic, as well as did several other financial managers who requested copies of my presentation and complimentary written instructions. So overall, not too bad.

I also took every opportunity to network the best I could with those in attendance. I forced myself to sit at tables of strangers at every meal and to mingle the best I could during social opportunities. The first night we had a fancy dinner (jacket required) at an old southern mansion turned bed and breakfast (we had the place to ourselves). The second night we were invited to an evening of very good southern BBQ on a 94-foot houseboat owned by a big customer of our Little Rock branch. That was pretty neat as well. Of course, both of these late nights and very early mornings caught up with me by the end of the trip, and since I was averaging about 4 hours of sleep a night, I was pretty much a zombie by the time I landed back home in Colorado.

This was more than just a schmooze fest, though. I actually learned a few things. I learned that the Big Boss Lady gets a lot of respect from her peers in the upper echelons. As I watched and listened to other presentations from the higher-ups, I learned a lot about what they were doing and what I was not. These were things that I know how to do, but wasn't doing them. Up until this point I was doing the job the Big Boss Lady set aside for me the best I could and wondered why I wasn’t getting promoted. Now, I see what these guys have done and I realize that perhaps it isn't that I'm not doing my set job function well, but I need to be doing things not in my set job function well. If I want to get to that next level, I need to start doing the work of the next level without having it laid out in front of me. Perhaps I feel unchallenged and bored because I am waiting for the Big Boss Lady to challenge me. It is time for me to challenge myself. I came back with a head full of ideas, and I am going to put them into action. If that doesn't move me ahead, I honestly don't know what the hell will.

Well, that was a long, rambling post. There's a bit more but I should probably end it now. Oh, I listened to Modest Mouse's Building Nothing Out of Something on the way to work today. You all know how I feel about the Mouse, so no need to elaborate there.