I had a job interview on Tuesday. It was one of those jobs where I applied just so I can feel like I'm doing something, not a job I necessarily want or expect to get. Therefore, I didn't mind that the interview was really weird and impersonal.
I have continued doing research downtown several days a week, and on Tuesday I also decided to stop at the state office of tourism, since I had never been. I was amused last year (after attending March for Our Lives) when I noticed the sidewalk said "Wall Ts" instead of "Wall St." I'm not the only one who noticed that.
On Wednesday, I worked at This Is the Place, giving field trips and other things. My boss wanted me to learn more about the park, so he gave me his master key and I went around opening buildings and giving myself a tour. That was fun.
Thursday morning, I had a dentist appointment, and finally they made no comments about my flossing. The last few times, they told me I need to be more aggressive, even though I floss every day. So maybe I've finally mastered the art of flossing.
I wanted to go swimming later that day, but when I got there, there was a swim meet, so I couldn't. Maybe it's a first-world problem, but I find it a little odd that the closest public pool is still a decent distance away, and even then, it has weird hours and closures, since it's the only one nearby.
My laptop has gotten extremely slow, and when I was in California, my computer whiz brother helped me remove some viruses to try to make it faster. It made it a little faster, but not completely. So this week I reset Windows to try to improve it. It didn't. In fact, it made it worse because now there's a lot that I have to redo. I've had all sorts of problems with this computer, so I don't know if I'll go with Toshiba again.
For the last few years, I have listened to Irish or Irish American music in the weeks leading up to St. Patrick's Day. This has been both traditional folk music and the popular Celtic rock that blends traditional with rock instruments. My favorite of all the Irish-inspired bands is Young Dubliners, and every year they tour the West before St. Patrick's Day. This year, I decided I wanted to see them live. (I'm increasingly more interested in doing things around holidays, instead of just decorations and food.)
So on Friday, I headed to the Commonwealth Room, a new Salt Lake venue, to see their show. Their opener was a local rock band called Folk Hogan. They had an accordion, a mandolin, and a banjo, but their sound was more of a rock sound. It seems that rock music is gasping for breath right now, and more popular bands are relatively clean cut. But this was more of a typical edgy rock band, with long hair and questionable lyrics. I liked their sound, but it was hard to understand what they were saying, and I think I'm glad of that. They played for an hour, which is the longest opener I have ever seen. I thought they wore out their welcome.
Then Young Dubliners were out. Their band had rock instruments but also a fiddle/violin and a tin whistle (or something like that). I thought it was hard to understand Folk Hogan, but Young Dubliners was worse. I don't know if they were standing too close to the microphone, or what. But it was really loud yet muffled at the same time. I know that there are always issues with sound quality in live music, but I think that's the worst I had ever heard it. I really like their recorded music, but I did not enjoy the live show that much.
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| I liked the Irish color scheme of the lights. |
I might see them again if they were in a different venue, and if they did not have an opener, but this was not my favorite concert.
The venue served alcohol, and I am a little troubled that they didn't do more to ensure people had designated drivers. This week, I was reading an article about the new .05 blood alcohol law in Utah. Studies have shown its benefits to public health. But the American Beverage Institute doesn't like the law (I wonder why...), and a member of it criticized the study: "Studies citing a significant drop in traffic deaths are 'deeply flawed' because they rely on a broad deterrence effect, meaning that drivers at all blood alcohol concentration levels, especially high ones, would be persuaded to not get behind the wheel after consuming too much alcohol after a .05 law is implemented, he said."
Um, they say this like it's a bad thing. Anything that leads to a drop in traffic deaths is good, and anything that deters people from drinking and driving is a good thing, and to say otherwise is stupid at best and evil at worst, with selfishness, greediness, and laziness as other attributes in between.
Also, what gets me is that the .05 law is being considered by more progressive states like Oregon and California. People complain that Utah is too conservative (...and it is), but now that Utah is doing something progressive, those same people are complaining. Sheesh!
Here's a cheesy poem I whipped up three years ago:
If you will drink whiskey on St. Patrick's Day,
You better had listen to what I will say.
For if you are drinking, and some of you are,
You must not be thinking of driving your car.
Now, drinking and driving's a terrible crime—
Endangering others for ease or for dime.
Go search for the cabs, or call up your friends,
That the lasses and lads may have happy ends.
For if you drive drunk, then I certainly dream
That banshees salute you with doom-telling scream.
May the road rise to meet you on your way to the cell;
May the demons all greet you as you go down to...well.
So do us a favor, and always drive sober.
Don't press your luck on a green four-leaf clover.
If you heed this message, then all will be fine
As on corned beef and cabbage we joyously dine!
Anyway, don't drink and drive.
I had to work more yesterday, helping to train new people.
Then today, I used my rock collection to teach elders quorum. But it didn't fit as well as I had hoped.
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