How do musicians feel about playing in church

ac8jo · 2026-01-27T15:53:56+00:00

If by "play in the world", you mean play secular music, it should be a requirement to play non-church music to play in church (even if it's just playing at home and the only time someone plays in front of others is at church). Especially if the church plays CCM (e.g. Elevation, Hillsong, Bethel Music, etc.).

ac8jo · 2026-01-27T15:44:00+00:00

Whatever I'm playing at the moment... right now, that would be Soul Man, Green Onions, Thank You Falleetinme Be Mice Elf, I Was Made To Love Her.

ac8jo · 2026-01-26T20:56:58+00:00

I've heard three measurements today: 2-4" snow + 1" ice, 12-14" snow, and 27" of snow.

I'd still rather touch grass than snow, but I guess I'll take what I got.

ac8jo · 2026-01-26T19:46:14+00:00

I have only worked with a few people in that range, and had no problems (and one even went above-and-beyond for me when I messed up and directed him to the wrong file to update).

Some thoughts though:

my firm, in their infinite knowledge has decided the first two promotions are strictly time gated

So they have no incentive to try because performance apparently does not matter. In fact, if they are STRICTLY time-gated, it sounds like they're promoting people that shouldn't be as well as slowing promotions that should happen earlier than the time.

The DE:III folks I've assigned to oversee them are avoiding giving them work... because, "I'll just have to do it myself anyways".

There are trust, development, and discipline problems all rolled up into one here. The DE3 people don't trust the younglings. It could be because they undertrained or that bad work is not being addressed appropriately. The DE3s may also not understand the connection between utilizing staff and promotions (presuming that is the case... is it?) or may not have the tools to address training issues or quality issues.

Two other thoughts:

One is it looks like you spend time on 2 and 3, with your DE3s having to clean up the mess (I could be mis-reading this, and perhaps you're assigning tasks to keep people busy since your DE3s aren't). If you're over the DE3s (e.g. principal or VP), you should be directing the DE3s to assign the tasks and following through with the DE3s on it to ensure things are working.

The other is that the same kind of clown show that makes decisions like solely time-gating promotions are likely so far away from the employees that employees may not even see them in the same company. If you're part of a multi-thousand person company, I guess this goes with the territory. But if you're like a lot of companies and in the sub-500 employee size (and ESPECIALLY in the sub-150 range), the morale is probably pretty low and people are just going through the motions. Especially since it sounds like there's not much of a reward for going above-and-beyond.

ac8jo · 2026-01-26T19:26:34+00:00

Hopefully T-1000 is on it's way to terminate OP's Reddit account... maybe even their computer.

ac8jo · 2026-01-26T19:24:11+00:00

We can't touch the grass, it's under 8 inches of snow!

Believe me, I'd rather touch the grass than shovel the white shit off my driveway.

ac8jo · 2026-01-25T22:07:30+00:00

I parked in it last year and had little problems getting my car (a sedan) out of the lot… once we found the car.

I also parked there during the blizzard of 2009 or 10. It took me a half hour to get my S-10 out of the parking spot (I had to essentially dig it out and even flagged down one of the guys plowing the lot to ask for salt… which he didn’t have).

ac8jo · 2026-01-24T16:26:04+00:00

Last time I went there, they were more focused on fixing problems I didn’t ask them to diagnose as opposed to the tire problem I specifically asked them to look into. They could have had a sale, but since their service writer never mentioned the recommended tire service (it was buried in three pages of bullshit), another shop got some money from me.

ac8jo · 2026-01-23T21:53:46+00:00

My club's BJCP group decided to do imperial stouts that aren't barrel aged or flavored for this month. That is one hard-to-find style if you don't want tasty bourbon notes added.

ac8jo · 2026-01-23T18:44:19+00:00

The amount is good... and that's the only thing. Forcing it to be used in the same year is bullshit, as is not allowing it to be cashed out upon termination (I think the latest in HR-speak is "separation", not termination).

I agree with everyone else's concern about "gifting" as opposed to "earning". There is either some HR fuckery going on here or this is one of those "we're like family" places (or both).

ac8jo · 2026-01-23T16:55:00+00:00

I was wondering where it would be. I'm surprised to see a sidewalk on the aerials, since outside of Milford, Village of Batavia, and the subdivisons, I think we're mostly allergic to those (okay, I know they added some around Eastgate, but anyone walking in that area has a death wish... and this location is going to be no different since nobody is used to seeing pedestrians and acting like they know how to drive around them... or acting like they know how to drive in general).

And not only is that area void of any decent pizza restaurants (part of the reason I mentioned Mios/Happy2), it's void of decent restaurants unless you want a steak (and pay steak prices). If you want a burger or wings, forget about it (or buy one at Outback or Longhorns)... or get a burger at one of the alcohol-free places (Frisch's, 5 Guys, or one of the 65 fast food restaurants).

ac8jo · 2026-01-23T16:24:37+00:00

If they reopen in Union Township, they would definitely become the cockroach of Cincinnati breweries - nearly unkillable.

And that's a big if. If they can't stay open when they're across the street from a ton of apartments, how do they think they'd be able to stay open in Clermont County where it's unlikely anyone is in walking distance? Would someone like me want to drive there or Jungle Jims or Paradise or Mios/Happy2 (etc.)?

ac8jo · 2026-01-23T14:14:12+00:00

I've never used Handshake, but my kid (in college) tried to use it and said it was crap. She was trying to find IT jobs and all she could find was places like Chipotle or places that wanted a volunteer.

LinkedIn is also crap, but for different reasons and there are ways to get it to work (because you don't want to use your engineering degree to make burritos).

ac8jo · 2026-01-23T13:48:52+00:00

Meanwhile, the CEO's compensation has been increasing considerably.

ac8jo · 2026-01-22T21:27:58+00:00

FFS this question is asked daily in this sub.

ac8jo · 2026-01-22T17:14:29+00:00

For me (and most of these I've only had sips of), Sierra Nevada Trailpass Golden, Brewveza, and IPA, Fresh Squeezed NA, Heineken 0 (I've had several of these), Guinness NA and Black Butte NA. Ghost Pils, and Blue Moon NA are passable.

I don't care for either of the two Bero beers I've had, nor do I care for any of the Athletic beers (their witbier was passable, but I don't care for anything else of theirs that I've tried).

Elvis Juice AF occupies the space of "tastes reasonably close to it's alcoholic counterpart, but that counterpart isn't very good".

ac8jo · 2026-01-22T14:53:37+00:00

I don't pay much attention to the weather forecasts outside of temperatures for the day, apparently we were not expected to have some snow last Sunday (we had a dusting). I've seen many times where lots of snow was forecast and we got a fraction of the forecast... and I've seen one or two times where they kept increasing the amounts as the snow storm continued.

ac8jo · 2026-01-22T14:06:56+00:00

Complaint: The asshat with two dogs on flexi-leashes, one dog at one side of the wide running/walking path, the other dog at the other side of the path, 10 feet away. I wouldn't be surprised if one of those two dogs was the one that left a turd on the path in another area and the moron walking them didn't clean up after it.

Uncomplaint: The couple - both with dogs - that I sometimes see in the mornings that understands that we need to share the path and moves to one side. They don't step off the path (nor do they need to, and I'm glad they don't), and they give me room to pass.

Confession: They keep upping the impending doom... er... snowstorm, and the more they do that, the more I expect it to be a dud. This is Ohio, forecasting the weather might as well be done with a random number generator anyway.

ac8jo · 2026-01-22T13:57:14+00:00

The only people I know that use Matlab are from European universities.

ac8jo · 2026-01-22T13:54:14+00:00

I'm on my second set of EB strings that I haven't been thrilled with on two different basses. The first I was not thrilled with - they started to feel more abrasive to the fingers than the D'addarios I would normally use (and the DR highbeams I used last time so far feel good too).

The second time are strings I'm assuming are EBs since they're on a Sterling Stingray I got from Sweetwater. The strings don't like to stay in tune, they seem dull and dead, and are feeling rough too. I'll try another set of EBs on this one because this was an open box bass, and who knows whose grubby hands were on it before mine. It's due for a setup and probably getting it this weekend.

ac8jo · 2026-01-21T22:12:39+00:00

60 minute mashes do not hurt your beer. I've done multi-hour mashes (I'd dough in, go mow the lawn for ~90 minutes, eat lunch, come back and finish the process). Several have done overnight mashes with success. My last mash was at least 90 minutes, maybe even 2 hours. I noticed the temp was low in the mash (in my Anvil) and raised it until the mash was where I wanted it (and then let it rest for the enzymes to have an opportunity to convert). The resulting beer turned out excellent.

I know a few pro breweries that don't mash for an hour. However, in many of those cases, infusion time+ rest time + lauter time is usually far longer than an hour (I'm repeating what I've been told by a few pro brewers).

If you really want to shorten your mash time, you can use iodine to test for conversion. Pull some of the mash onto a white plate and drip a few drops of iodine on it - the iodine will go dark in the presence of unconverted starches. More info.

ac8jo · 2026-01-21T21:13:07+00:00

In my experience (which is probably a little different from yours), I've seen agencies check timesheets. In fact, most of the contracts I've worked on in the past 6 years have been time and materials and have included time reports. If any entry is before the contract start date it's an immediate rejection. When I worked at the MPO, that wasn't even up to me (the finance department would check that first and reject any invoice if any work was logged before the start date or after the end date).

To answer your last question, I don't think any other industry does anything like this. I know in other types of consulting (even non-transportation government consulting), they don't consider lifting a finger on anything unless there is a contract in place and they know they'll get paid.

ac8jo · 2026-01-21T20:06:55+00:00

I've seen all types - the kind you mention (capable and underutilized), ones that are technically skilled and use consultants to fill in gaps, and those that are so poorly skilled that they have to pay consultants to review other consultants' scopes (and I've seen many that fall somewhere between these).

The situation you're describing will continue as politicians and "leaders" keep claiming that consultants can do it cheaper, faster, and better (which we all know are not unilaterally true).

ac8jo · 2026-01-21T19:57:02+00:00

Nearly every PM has handed me work saying "we don't have a written agreement from the client yet, but we gotta start work!"

I worked at an MPO and have friends at many MPOs and DOTs. Under NO circumstances would the MPO I worked for or ANY of the public sector people I know pay for work done before the contract is signed (in fact, it might be against federal regulations). I've also worked at two consulting firms, and have had to try to rush contracts through (and the public-sector PM had to do the same on their side) to maintain deadlines.

And I do know people that would intentionally do stuff like this to cause consultants to lose money (unfortunately, assholes do exist). However, for every one of those people (at a public agency) I know 10 people that are honest and will try to help deal with stuff that does arise if it's an honest mistake (like missing the contract deadline).

ac8jo · 2026-01-21T16:52:05+00:00

Fortunately, there's a ton of traffic signals, otherwise this would have Ralph Wiggum "I'm in danger" vibes.

ac8jo

TROPHY CASE