Home is where You Hang Your Head

Today, I came into my office for the – what, 3rd time?- in 3 1/2 months.  The first time I came in, the air handler had stopped working and it was stifling hot. Managed to get the owners to fix that. Then, the mailbox lock got jammed and it got replaced, but it still doesn’t work.  Then I managed to get a couple of prints of the things I needed, but the next time I came in, the plotter needs 3 of 4 print cartridges replaced. Paid for and replaced.  Now it is demanding 3 printheads be replaced.  So I have spent $250 on consumables for this fucker. Plotters is difficult.  And expensive.

This is an old one, even the repairman I had in remarked on how it was remarkable I was able to keep it going for so long.  I guess I better start putting aside 5 or 6K for a new one…

The limited opening nonsense is going on, but fuck that, I wear a mask and get take out.  Many do not.  Many are idiots.  At least I can get a lunch from local restaurants.

I had to do much normal maintenance that has been deferred…cleaning the toilet, taking out the trash…

Our office is low density, there is a handful of tenants and most people are being careful about their appearances, working from home where possible.  My office doesn’t really have anyone right now, except me, so it is extremely low exposure risk once I get here.  Travel is all mask-based.

And we all complain about the difficulties of working remotely; but a year or two ago, the Mekons got together across like twelve continents to gather in the southwestern desert, resulting in a brilliant, spare and arresting album Deserted”

But also the way the song keeps saying “you should see us after the rain” and then it devolves into Meat Puppets soundscapes, all spiky and atonal…

But here is the real lesson to be learned, and once again you will be taught by the Mekons. The have always refused to even write an album until they are in the same place, and they were scheduled to be in Valencia to create the next album.  Which obviously had to be canceled. So they pulled back, and figured out how to get it all done, and Dave Trumfio and Lu Edmonds figured it all out.  A true collaborative effort.

They responded to the fact that we can’t be there, by saying we are still artists and we know how to do this.

They did.

Most of you will hate this.

 

You are wrong.

 

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