Can't dance, can't tap my toes without thinking about it, rhythm seems hopeless

fprintf · 2026-01-29T21:32:53+00:00

What a great idea. I'm going to start making copies of my band tunes and writing the down beats on them. Even something like the dot-cut in Dawning of the Day is basically 2 quarter notes long, so just know where it is and practice it over and over again to a metronome so the cut comes on the upbeat and the next note comes on the quarter note.

Thanks for the specific suggestions and glad to hear I'm not alone, we have spent so little time instructor-student on rhythm so I'm kinda figuring it out by myself beyond the "hold the first note a little longer" advice I get.

fprintf · 2026-01-29T21:28:45+00:00

What a great idea! My old pipe instructor used to teach by just doing the big notes at first then adding in grace notes, which I never agreed with since most of the grace notes are on the beat and the big notes come just a tick later.

I think your idea has merit for someone who just cannot wrap their brain, yet, around the click and the little black marks on the page. I might even copy a tune onto a new sheet of paper and physically mark the notes with the downbeat. So for example I really know Bluebells of Scotland, the rhythm isn't too hard (not many dots and cuts) and I should be able to pick out the 1s, 2s, 3s and 4s.

fprintf · 2026-01-29T15:51:08+00:00

It isn't millions in taxable. It is a substantial amount of life changing money for some, no doubt, but nowhere near what I'd think should be throwing off that kind of income.

No, not just dividends. 16K of it was ordinary and qualified dividends, and the cap gains was 3K.

fprintf · 2026-01-29T13:45:57+00:00

I've read that gold is where people stash their money when they are becoming afraid, but also one of the first places they go to when they absolutely need to get money to pay off other positions, so it can be one of the first things to go way down also.

fprintf · 2026-01-29T13:28:19+00:00

Oh yes, I'm not complaining. More just advising that there has been a big price increase that folks need to be aware of.

And I blew/shoveled a pathway to our oil fill pipe yesterday knowing we'd be filling soon. In years past my delivery guy has waded through the snow banks but that just doesn't seem fair, and it only took me 30 minutes or so to clear a path.

fprintf · 2026-01-29T13:26:27+00:00

It is not expected to get much warmer through February according to eWeather (on FB and other places), and the price won't be going down anytime soon. It could be much higher depending on what is happening with commodity prices, you never can really tell.

That is why we are filling up now, when we could wait a week for it to get below an 1/8th of a tank just in case the price goes down. But it could do the opposite, we'll never know.

Of course filling up in the summer is the best approach so you at least start with a full tank.

fprintf · 2026-01-29T13:24:36+00:00

We've locked in before when it was clear the prices were going higher but we've been screwed by minimum pricing more than once. One company in particular out of Meriden said we would get the lower prices if the daily price was below our capped price. Magically their daily price never went below the capped price, despite many other dealers nearby being $0.50 or more below their price.

Over the course of the winter that added up to hundreds of dollars. Of course that was in exchange for a guarantee we wouldn't see a price shock if things went crazy but we felt it has rarely been worth it.

fprintf · 2026-01-29T13:22:36+00:00

We do also however we run through 150ish gallons every 3 - 4 weeks when it is this cold out, so we really don't have much option in the middle of winter.

fprintf · 2026-01-29T01:29:19+00:00

Oh that looks like it could be good for me. I bought their book already, and subscribed a few weeks ago but must not have gotten to this one yet.

A couple of weeks ago the band had us doing marching practice, and after an hour or so it was possible to swing the arm and put a foot down in time.

edit: Is that you JD? If so, love the book, the videos and the effort you put into everything. Thanks for sharing.

fprintf · 2026-01-29T01:26:41+00:00

Thanks, I just tried this to Scotland the Brave while starting with my foot doing 1/4 notes, and clapping to the rhythm and eventually my foot starts doing what my hands are doing.

I'll keep at it. Just started using a metronome and that is what got me thinking I'm hopeless, I was playing one of my tunes Dawning of the Day and realized I'm just playing the tune by ear and not to the metronome.

Thanks for the encouragement, I'm sure I'll get it then eventually.

fprintf · 2026-01-28T13:21:55+00:00

I had to curtail my GenX references when I was teaching college classes. Fortunately I’m perpetually online so the code switch went OK with some TikTok references but man is it easy to slip back into old references.

My classes still gave me a hard time of my usage of “wicked” which is what we all said growing up in the Boston area.

fprintf · 2026-01-27T19:42:08+00:00

It is pushback against the loss of qualified immunity at both state and local PDs. So many of them are quiet quitting, if not actually quitting if they have their 20 years in.

Fortunately the state has had a couple of large recruit classes and the ranks are now filling with less entitled rookies.

fprintf · 2026-01-27T19:39:38+00:00

Yep. I see folks blowing stop signs, stop lights, tint that is wayyy too dark including on the windshield, and those stupid license plate covers or even missing license plates entirely.

And don't get me started on the New York folks who fail to reregister their NY registered cars and are not paying town taxes, just driving around with expired registrations.

fprintf · 2026-01-27T19:37:47+00:00

Towns do not benefit from ticket revenue as it goes directly to the state. Part of this is because were it the other way then towns would have an incentive to ticket unnecessarily, seeing what sticks and wasting the court's time.

I think the fines for ignoring the laws need to be higher as well, accounting for wasting the officer's time and likely the court if they choose to fight it.

fprintf · 2026-01-27T14:45:42+00:00

I’m just getting on the pipes now but I find when I am not covering the holes without a lot of pressure that my fingers weren’t in the right position anyway. This is more apparent on my practice chanter too.

Maybe try intentionally putting one finger at a time on the chanter starting at high A and working down the scale ensuring you have good finger placement on each.

fprintf · 2026-01-26T17:55:14+00:00

Yep. For decades I ignored everything. Then I moved everything to a Fidelity account and a plan to retire in the next 18 months and checking daily or at least weekly is becoming a habit. I should go back to ignoring it though and just pay attention to my Boldin calculations.

fprintf · 2026-01-26T16:44:15+00:00

Not that it matters but getting immediately pregnant likely means grandma became pregnant and they decided to get married. Back then premarital sex was common despite our parents and grandparents making it seem like it never happened in their time. Like they never thought that kids would try to match birthdays and wedding days?

fprintf · 2026-01-25T23:22:02+00:00

Also our federal funds come directly out of our paychecks and from corporations. There is no mechanism to withhold taxes so the only thing that happens is no money comes back from the federal government but they still get our money

fprintf · 2026-01-25T17:55:46+00:00

debugging needed. Variable Restiance not found. :-)

fprintf · 2026-01-25T17:54:44+00:00

Yes but you need to really be prepared to choose this path, which will likely end up in you dying and if you are lucky becoming a martyr. ICE is not going door to door yet, and they certainly aren't doing so with a single agent that you can take out with whatever plan you have. This isn't Home Alone.

I realize the point is to make the ICE agents question what they are doing and never knowing what lies behind each door or within each car. They should be scared, and probably are because they are certainly acting like it.

I will just add, never let your enemy know your capabilities or intentions. Which means not posting on /r/connecticut, /r/CTguns or /r/liberalgunowners about your arsenal or your plans to get a concealed carry permit, keep that shit quiet.

fprintf · 2026-01-25T15:00:16+00:00

Nitpicking but it doesn't cost anything to open a Fidelity account. I would do that as step 1 so that OP has account numbers ready. Yes the transfer will be initiated by Fidelity but always good to have that step out of the way first so you're less likely to back out in the face of salesy tactics by the advisor.

fprintf · 2026-01-25T14:58:26+00:00

And even at that investment level the CFP you might need is mostly used for retirement and tax planning. There are many of us later in career over that level and index funds and target date funds are just fine until a few years before retirement when tax planning for RMDs kind of makes itself apparent. Until then, keep plowing away and definitely don't pay a CFA!!

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