September 13, 2011

Waking Up in the Dark

It seems like I am the only one not jumping for joy for fall's arrival. I never want summer to end, and my dread for fall grows each year. "EH! EH! EH!" My alarm sounds each morning at 6:30 to encourage me to get my ass out of bed and start the day. I'm one of those people who sets the clock 10 minutes fast to build in a buffer, but I snooze it away more times than not and I'm fully aware the clock is fast so it doesn't make a whole helluva lot of sense. Still, I do it. This week it's been dark. I'm not much of a morning person and to start my day in darkness makes it's so much harder to drag myself from the coziness of my bed. The sun rises as I brush my teeth. Soon, I won't see the sun peer from the window until I shower. It won't be long before we're changing the clocks back, which does help the morning routine, but I hate driving home in darkness. I sit in a windowless office all day, rarely getting out for lunch, the hour of sun (while I prep and drive to work) I see in the morning hardly gives me the dose of Vitamin D I need. I'm definitely one affected by SAD. As soon as I know winter is near the depression settles in.

It's rained off and on for three days and it's not helping my mood any. I'd really like to resume our regularly scheduled warmth and sunshine. I'm not ready for clouds and 80-degree highs. Most Las Vegans are in heaven. They welcome the break of triple digit heat and rain is a treat in the desert. Just this morning, co-workers bounced down the halls giddy that more rain would fall. They all love this weather. "Good for them," I say. I hate this shit. It looks like we'll be plagued by storms all week. I can already hear everyone's cheers.

Speaking of storms, they put a damper on our concert Saturday night. We went to Mandalay Bay Beach to see Slighty Stoopid with Fishbone. Mike joined us. We brought beer to pre-party before the show. The Selena Gomez show was at the event center, kidlets and their parents paraded around while we polished off a 6 pack of Dos Equis. I'm sure we made the most interesting man in the world proud. We also had PBR to bring into the show since last year we were welcomed with tall boys, aluminum was A-OK. This year, we learned they limited it to plastic. Anything and everything had to be poured into the cups at the gate. Still, better than no outside beverages. We obliged their request and each of us entered double fisting our PBR in plastic. We're so high class.

We took our spots, front row in the water just below the stage, we were there for the Dirty Head show too. I was unfamiliar with Fishbone, but they were high energy and quite entertaining. They made my night when they played Sublime's "Date Rape". Stoopid had the longest sound check ever. When they finally got the show underway they invited Fishbone to join them on stage. It was cool, and I wouldn't have minded had we seen them move on and play our favorites. But they never got the chance. Mother Nature had other plans, after "Closer to the Sun" lightning appeared in the distance. The show went on, I kept one eye on the storm the other on the stage since we were standing in water. They did belt out "Til it Gets Wet" before we got wet. We knew the storm was getting close so we left the pool and found a place front row on the beach. Just as we got settled security and life guards made everyone exit the pool. Fishbone and Stoopid encouraged the crowd to return, they asked if someone pissed the pool. It didn't take long before the caught on (or were told) why we were all huddled on the beach. They finished out the song with a "we love you, Las Vegas" and people cheered for the encore, but the house lights came on and show was over. It's no one's fault, this is the risk you take with an outdoor show, but still we felt robbed. No "Collieman".. nuthin'. Such a bummer. This was the second show shut down by weather. The other was Steve Miller last year at M Resort. They never even had a chance, winds shut that show down before it even started. This shouldn't be such a problem in the desert, but that's my luck.

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